KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 22 — DAP’s Lim Kit Siang has demanded today for Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin to be sacked for alleged abuse of power, amid reports that the home minister vowed he would not take action against undocumented migrants if Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) loses in Kiulu.
In a statement, the Iskandar Puteri MP, however, said that Hamzah should be given a chance to explain himself, but he doubts that Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin will take any action against Hamzah.
“The question is whether the prime minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, would dare to sack Hamzah, who is also the Bersatu secretary-general, considering the precarious political position of the prime minister, who is hanging on to the Prime Minister’s Office for dear life.
“Muhyiddin will lose the prime ministership if he sacks Hamzah — an indication of how weak Muhyiddin is as prime minister,” Lim claims.
Hamzah had reportedly said he will not act against migrants if United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (Upko) Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau wins in Kiulu and information chief Datuk Joniston Bangkuai is not re-elected — in a bid to gain favour from PBS to stop contesting its other seats.
Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) is a coalition comprising Perikatan Nasional (PN), Barisan Nasional (BN) and local Sabah Opposition parties that were cobbled together to jointly challenge the ruling Warisan Plus pact.
Hamzah had announced a few days ago that GRS allies had reached an agreement to withdraw from contesting certain seats as to not fight against each other.
However, PBS rejected the call, making it clear that it would not be withdrawing from any of its 22 seats, fanning the flames of infighting between GRS allies.
“This is particularly the case as Hamzah’s abuse of power as home minister is for the purpose of persuading PBS to withdraw a few candidates in favour of STAR and Jeffrey Kitingan to reduce the bitter infighting in the PN-BN-PBS ‘alliance within an alliance’,” said Lim
On September 12, it was confirmed that GRS parties will face off against their own allies in nearly a quarter of the 73 seats up for contest, which would split their support against Warisan Plus that avoided overlaps.
Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin tried to forge a truce, but was unsuccessful when the local party unexpectedly fielded candidates in Paginatan, Lumadan, Tambunan, Bingkor, Tulid, Moyog, and Liawan.
This put three GRS parties on a collision course in Paginatan and Tulid, causing clashes between PBS and BN parties in 10 seats, and between the local party and PN parties in six.
