KUALA LUMPUR, April 5 — Former Kota Belud MP Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan has stepped down as Tuaran Umno division chief, saying the party needs younger leaders to take charge, while retaining his role on Umno’s supreme council.

The former federal minister said his resignation, effective April 1, was not driven by internal issues in Sabah Umno but by a need to “give way to new leaders” amid shifting political dynamics.

“In the current political environment, we must make space for new leadership to guide Umno,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Abdul Rahman added that he had discussed the decision with party colleagues beforehand and that they understood his move.

He noted that he had been involved with Umno for more than a decade, including before the party formally expanded into Sabah.

Despite stepping down at the division level, he will remain a member of the party’s supreme council.

Tuaran Umno deputy chief Norbaki Lamsari is understood to be taking over the post.

Abdul Rahman said he had informed Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and secretary-general Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki of his decision.

His political trajectory in Sabah Umno has been uneven since 2020, following differences with the party’s then state chief, the late Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin.

During the 17th Sabah state election, he had been named as Barisan Nasional’s candidate for the Tempasuk seat but withdrew after his candidacy was announced.