KOTA KINABALU: Tanjung Keramat assemblyman Datuk Shahelmey Yahya is not concerned about the possibility of action being taken against him for not supporting his own party, Umno.
Shahelmey said that it is up to the party to decide on this.
"Yes, it's the party's right and it is up to them," he said in a statement on Saturday (Jan 7).
Shahelmey said this in response to Sabah Barisan Nasional chairman Datuk Bung Moktar Radin's statement that action would be taken against the five Umno assemblymen if they did not toe the party line on the matter.
He was among the five Umno Sabah assemblymen who were not present at the press conference held by Umno on Friday (Jan 6) night.
The other four who did not turn up were Datuk Yusof Yacob (Sindumin), Datuk Jasni Daya (Pantai Dalit), Datuk Arshad Bistari (Tempasuk) and Datuk James Ratib (Sugut). They could not be contacted for comments.
Shahelmey said that the withdrawal of support for Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor by Bung and others was untimely.
"This is not the time to destabilise the current state government as the cooperation between Gabungan Rakyat Sabah and Barisan Nasional has been fairly good over the past two years," he said.
He said this was proven with the increase in state revenue and more investments flowing into Sabah.
"So why are we doing something like this without concrete reasons? This will create the perception that politics in the state are unstable and could push away investors," he said.
"I have also done my investigations and found that people do not want any change in government for now," added Shahelmey.