Umno Supreme Council member Abdul Rahman Dahlan said they did not want a leader who had to attend court cases on corruption charges, to campaign for the coalition in the state election.
“This is a costly step. We don’t want Sabah to be an experiment. This is an insult to Sabah,” Rahman, who is also the Tuaran Umno chief, told reporters here tonight.
“Sabah has many high-calibre leaders and to appoint someone with personal problems is a huge insult to us (Umno members) and voters in Sabah.
He added that the person who leads the Sabah BN election machinery must be free from negative perceptions that can be manipulated by the opposition.
“Such a person must have credibility that cannot be questioned as otherwise it could affect voter support,” he said, adding that Sabah Umno has many qualified leaders who can help defeat Warisan and take over the state government.
“We have talked to Musa Aman but he refused to be the head of the machinery.”
Earlier today, Barisan Nasional chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced that Bung would lead the BN machinery in Sabah being the state BN chairman.
Kinabatangan MP Bung is also Sabah Umno chief.
However, according to Rahman, Bung’s appointment was not discussed and therefore, went against the full autonomy granted to the state last year.
“We (12 Sabah divisions) have tried to meet Zahid in Kuala Lumpur, but he has not given any feedback until now,” he said, adding that Zahid as a veteran politician would know what to do to ensure BN’s victory.
“We are confident that our stand is supported by many Sabah Umno leaders at all levels. We believe that our numbers of supporters will increase,” Rahman said.
Also present at the press conference tonight was former Puteri Umno chief Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin.
When contacted by FMT, Bung declined to comment on the issue.
There are 73 seats up for grabs in the Sabah state assembly.
Yesterday, the Election Commission announced that the Sabah state polls will take place on Sept 26 with early voting set for Sept 22. Nomination day is set for Sept 12.
The election was triggered by the dissolution of the state assembly on July 30 amid a political crisis, which requires a new election to be conducted within 60 days.