PAPAR: Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) information chief Datuk Johnny Mositun yesterday announced that he agreed completely with Datuk Seri Panglima Mohd Salleh Said Keruak’s recent call that Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman should contest a vice-president post in the upcoming Umno party election.
Furthermore, he said development funds and programmes for Sabah should be increased and equitably distributed to benefit all the communities in the state.
“That is as it should be, and also in keeping with the hopes of our people who had given Barisan Nasional (BN) the mandate in the recent general election,” Mositun said to reporters here yesterday.
He added Sabah had undoubtedly received increased allocations for development since Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman became Chief Minister in 2003, and the trend has continued uninterrupted over the last ten years that Musa has been at the helm of leadership in Sabah.
“But the fact is that Sabah needs more. It is a very big state but is relatively undeveloped compared to Peninsular Malaysia,” Mositun said.
He also noted that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had personally pledged to address the imbalance in development between Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia.
“Therefore, I fully agree with Datuk Seri Salleh on the need to do this immediately as that is the Sabahans’ expectation,” he said.
Kinabatangan member of Parliament Datuk Seri Bung Mokhtar Radin made a similar call on Monday suggesting for additional development in Sabah in lieu of the state’s contribution to BN’s victory in the 13th General Election and the need to improve its basic infrastructures.
Meanwhile, Mositun said the Chief Minister has a proven track record and had done much to put Sabah on solid footing for further economic growth.
“It cannot be denied that Datuk Musa has shown care and concern for all the communities in Sabah. It is to be hoped that his good working relationship with the federal leaders will result in more allocations for Sabah,” he added.
In this context, Mositun said Salleh’s call for Musa to contest a vice-president’s post bore merit.
“BN Sabah would benefit greatly if the Chief Minister were to contest and win a vice-president post in the upcoming Umno party election.
“Of course, I have no wish to involve myself in this matter which solely concerns Umno, but if you ask me, I will only say that as a fellow BN member, I see the wisdom behind Datuk Seri Salleh’s call for Datuk Musa to stand for election as Umno vice-president.
“Datuk Musa is eminently qualified for the position and as Umno vice-president, he will be able to do a lot more for Sabah,” he said.
Mositun also admitted that as a fellow BN leader, he personally felt that all BN component parties, including PBS, stood to benefit with more Sabah leaders holding important positions in Umno.
“Umno is the mainstay of the BN and sets the direction and agenda for national development and administration. Naturally, I want to see as many Sabah Umno leaders as possible holding influential positions in the party so they can influence decision-making at the highest level for the good of Sabah,” he said.
According to Mositun, Musa had proven himself as a leader who is fair to every ethnic group in Sabah and as Umno vice-president, he would be in a better position to ensure that government programmes and policies would be fair to all communities.
“That is why when you ask me what I think of Datuk Seri Salleh’s comments, I do not hesitate to give it my full endorsement, in my personal capacity of course.
“Make no mistake, I do not wish to say anything beyond that as it could be misconstrued as meddling in a fellow BN component party’s internal matters,” he pointed out.
When asked how he, as a BN component party leader, viewed the upcoming Umno party election, Mositun said it promised to be very interesting and the most “open” party election as promised by the Prime Minister and Umno president, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
“Datuk Seri Najib has kept his word to the people to make Umno a more democratic, open and inclusive party. It is noteworthy that this Umno party election will see a huge increase in the number of members voting for their choice of leaders and also not be unduly prevented from contesting.
“As a fellow BN member, I am happy to see these positive changes in Umno which augur well for the healthy progress and development of the Barisan Nasional as a whole,” he said.