KOTA KINABALU – Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) lawmaker Datuk Shahelmey Yahya has explained why he is against the move to withdraw from the state government led by Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS).
The Tanjung Keramat assemblyman, who is also Sabah community development and people’s wellbeing minister, said now is not the right time to trigger political instability in the state.
“The GRS-BN government has performed well in the past two years. The state revenue and foreign investment has increased by over RM33 billion.
“Why should we change without concrete reasons? Doing so will indicate political instability and hurt investors’ confidence, hindering them from coming to Sabah,” he told reporters today.
GRS and BN formed an alliance to govern Sabah after the state election in 2020.
A fresh political crisis is brewing after Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin announced Sabah BN’s withdrawal from the GRS-BN pact last night and claimed that Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor had lost majority support.
Bung said only five out of Sabah BN’s 18 assemblymen disagreed with the move.
Besides Shahelmey, the other four are said to be Datuk James Ratib (Sugut assemblyman and state agriculture and fisheries assistant minister), Jasnih Daya (Dalit assemblyman and state finance assistant minister), Andi Muhammad Suryadi Bandy (Tanjung Batu assemblyman and state youth and sports assistant minister), and Datuk Mohd Arsad Bistari (Tempasuk assemblyman).
Shahelmey today said he was ready to face any punitive action by Sabah BN for disobeying his party’s move
The Putatan MP also risks losing his seat for going against his coalition’s stance. He reiterated that voters currently do not want a change in state government.
“Now is not the right time. Now is the time to work, develop the economy and the state,” he said.
It is speculated that the 13 Sabah BN assemblymen on Bung’s side want to ally with Warisan to form a new state government.
Sabah’s assembly has 79 seats and requires a coalition to garner a simple majority of 40 to form the state government.
GRS currently has the support of 34 assemblymen – 29 from their own ranks plus five from BN who disagreed with Bung’s decision to exit the GRS-BN pact.
Sources have told The Vibes that GRS could garner up to 36 seats by roping in assemblymen from smaller parties, which would equal those across the aisle comprising Bung’s 13, Warisan’s 19, Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat’s three and an independent.
Hajiji had said he would reshuffle the Sabah cabinet prior to Bung’s announcement last night.
If Hajiji replaces all BN reps in the cabinet, Shahelmey would lose his position as a state minister. – The Vibes, January 7, 2023.
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