By Dominic Legeh - Free Malaysia TodayKOTA KINABALU: Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Musa Aman has lost control of component parties in the state, said PKR chief for Sabah and Sarawak Dr Jeffrey Kitingan.
He said it is evident that cracks between the component parties and their principal partner Sabah Umno are becoming more visible by the day.
This, he said, had forced Musa to advise state BN members to stop going to the media about domestic political issues.
Kitingan said the split among the BN component parties appeared to stem from recent intemperate demands by Sabah Umno leaders who risked alienating their coalition partners.
“I sympathise with the Sabah BN component parties which appear to have been belittled by Umno. The problem in the coalition is basically between Umno and all the other partners,” he said.
Jeffrey said this after chairing a press conference at his home here yesterday in conjunction with a one-day forum themed “Formation of Malaysia Revisited” to be organised by Borneo Heritage Foundation (BHF) and the Common Interest Group Malaysia (CigMa) on July 31.
Jeffrey helms both BHF and CigMa.
Radical path
The PKR leader was commenting on Musa’s statement on Monday advising BN component party leaders and members in Sabah to refrain from disclosing to the media domestic problems which can be settled through negotiation and discussion.
Musa was responding to a spate of statements sparked by Sabah Umno leaders who had caused consternation among BN coalition partners who feared the state BN leadership had approved strident calls by the Umno leadership to cut a radical path away from the so-called BN spirit.
The Sabah chief minister said he was prepared to listen to any problem faced by Sabah BN component parties so that it could be resolved immediately.
Musa said exposing domestic problems to the media would only invite certain quarters to take advantage of the situation and fan disunity in the coalition.
“The State BN component parties are not happy and they were just expressing their unhappiness.
“Look at what Umno is doing, it is trying to grab everybody’s seats,” said Jeffrey, who is the younger brother of Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan.
“If I were the component parties, why not have a free contest and let the people decide,” he added.
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