Zahid, two top guns absent from Sabah coalition event

KOTA KINABALU – Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s absence at a Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) rally involving the alliance’s top-level party leaders tonight has raised questions on whether there is fallout between him and Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

The event was organised to facilitate the coalition’s final push to attract votes for party components in the state election on September 26 (Saturday).

Zahid’s photo was featured on the original media invitation released yesterday (September 23), but his name was later not featured in an updated tentative programme distributed to the press.

Yesterday, after PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced that he has the numbers to topple Muhyiddin’s Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration, Ahmad Zahid said it was all right for his party members to back the opposition leader’s bid to take over as prime minister.

The Umno chief had said that his party and Barisan Nasional (BN) are not components of PN but supported it in Parliament. 

His remarks came hot on the heels of Anwar’s surprise announcement where he claimed he has the majority support of MPs to form a government, but did not reveal the numbers nor who is backing him.

The Vibes had also reported that Anwar has at least 15 Umno MPs on his side.

It is also believed that Zahid has had a fallout with his deputy Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, who has declared support for Muhyiddin and claimed that none of Umno’s federal lawmakers have indicated their support for Anwar.

Tonight’s event titled ‘Pentas Perdana Gabungan Rakyat Sabah’ was supposed to see all of GRS parties’ top guns make an appearance.

However, Zahid, Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili (Parti Bersatu Sabah president) and Tan Sri Joseph Kurup (president of Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah) were no-shows.

PN and GRS leaders who showed up include Muhyiddin, PN secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin, PAS secretary-general Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan, SAPP president Datuk Yong Teck Lee, PBRS deputy president Arthur Joseph Kurup, PN Sabah and Bersatu state chief Datuk Hajiji Noor, Bersatu vice-president Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee, Gerakan president Datuk Dr Dominic Lau, PAS vice-president Senator Datuk Idris Ahmad, Star president Datuk Jeffrey Kitingan and MCA president Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong. - The Vibes, September 24, 2020.