SANDAKAN – Sabah Umno finds itself victimised by a “members’ theft” operation allegedly orchestrated by various parties within the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), according to Datuk Suhaimi Nasir, Sabah Umno’s information chief.
He alleged that Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) vice president Datuk Ruslan Muharam has openly acknowledged the practice of “buying members” within GRS, underscoring the widespread exodus of members from different parties.
Suhaimi contends that when Bersatu expanded into Sabah in 2019, numerous Sabah Umno members were surreptitiously enlisted as Bersatu members without their knowledge or consent.
“There is no denying of the matter (that it happened). Sabah Umno members never even filled up any membership form to join Bersatu, and they were suddenly made Bersatu members.
“This happened when Sabah Umno leaders joined Bersatu, and they were desperate to find more members to set up new branches and divisions.
“They took a ‘short-cut’ and stole the list of existing Sabah Umno list that was complete with MyKad numbers and addresses to be registered as Bersatu party members,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Suhaimi, who is also the Libaran Umno division chief, alleged that this incident persisted until the informal formation of GRS in September 2020.
At that time, with established parties like Sabah Umno and PBS boasting grassroots support, Bersatu found it convenient to “steal members” from these two parties.
Following the 15th general election in December 2022, then-Sabah Bersatu chairman Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor led a mass exodus from the party, leaving only Beluran MP Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee.
Despite Sabah Bersatu’s departure from GRS, Suhaimi claims that the practice of “buying members” persisted, as evidenced by Ruslan’s recent press statement urging a certain GRS party to cease bribing PBS members, including divisional chiefs, to join their ranks.
Suhaimi criticised the act of bribing Umno leaders and pilfering party members as “immoral” and lacking integrity.
“This (Ruslan’s statement) only happened because there are internal conflicts within GRS. (Like PBS,) Sabah Umno has also been offered remuneration to join other parties.
“In fact, any Sabah Umno who held positions under political appointments have been dismissed from their positions for refusing to join GRS,” he said.
Suhaimi slammed the act of bribing Umno leaders and stealing the party members as “immoral” and “having no integrity”.
He said there are about 1.8 million eligible voters in Sabah and about 800,000 are registered as political party members.
“This means that there are still a lot of people who are not in politics that GRS can offer to become members. Why steal members from other parties?” he added.
“This only shows that GRS has no support from the people, especially the youths because GRS is led by leaders who like to jump parties and with unclear direction.”
GRS presently comprises seven parties, Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah which was formed by members who left Sabah Bersatu in 2022 and now led by Hajiji, as well as PBS, Sabah Progressive Party, Sabah Star, Usno, Liberal Democratic Party, and Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah.
Following the 2020 Sabah election, the state was governed by the GRS-BN coalition until Sabah Umno withdrew support for Hajiji as the Sabah chief minister in January this year.
The Sabah government is now known as GRS-PH Plus, with Sabah Umno serving as the state opposition alongside Warisan to date. – November 21, 2023.