The Malaysian Insight

PARTI Harapan Rakyat Sabah leader Lajim Ukin said all speculation on who will be the Sabah Bersatu chief should stop as only party chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad can name the person when the state chapter of the party is launched tomorrow.

Lajim, himself a hopeful for the post, rubbished speculation that former Umno colleague Hajiji Mohd Noor will be the state Bersatu chief. 

“Yesterday, I had over an hour talk with Dr Mahathir on the direction of Sabah politics. If Dr Mahathir decides to choose Hajiji and then, I will follow the leader’s decision. 

“So, we wait until tomorrow,” he said at his party’s annual general meeting in Kota Kinabalu today.

At the AGM today, Lajim made good on his earlier promise to dissolve his party so that its 64,000 members could en bloc join Sabah Bersatu.

To date, he said only 36,744 of his party members have applied to join Bersatu. 

Dr Mahathir is to launch the state Bersatu chapter in Penampang tomorrow.

Lajim was a former Umno member before quitting the party to join PKR.

He became the PKR chief and state opposition leader after the 13th general election, before leaving PKR to form Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah ahead of GE14. 

His party did not win any seats in GE14. 

Lajim said he has no problem with Hajiji and believed both of them could work together despite differences in opinion. – April 5, 2019.