Bung Moktar and Beaufort MP Datuk Siti Aminah Aching in Kota Kinabalu.
KOTA KINABALU: Amid talk that Sabah MPs were being marginalised in the federal administration, Sabah Umno chief Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin has dismissed such claims and says he turned down an offer to be in the Cabinet.
“Yes, I was offered (a Cabinet post), but I declined because I wanted to focus on my responsibility as state Umno chairman to strengthen the party’s position in facing the upcoming 17th state election,” the Kinabatangan MP and Lamag assemblyman said here yesterday.
Bung Moktar, who is also Sabah Barisan Nasional chairman, rejected claims that Sabah Umno had been marginalised in the Cabinet reshuffle announced on Tuesday, which saw Beaufort MP Datuk Siti Aminah Aching dropped as deputy plantation and commodities minister.
He said certain parties were “just playing up the issue” as they wanted to undermine and weaken Umno in Sabah.
“These outsiders are trying to create a negative perception of Umno,” he said in cautioning party members against the political talk spread by their opponents.
Speaking to reporters after meeting Siti Aminah at his home, he said the appointment of the federal Cabinet members and deputy ministers was the prerogative of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Bung Moktar said the exclusion of Siti Aminah did not signify Umno’s marginalisation.
The reshuffle saw Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani appointed as the Plantation and Commodities Minister, along with the inclusion of Wanita Umno head Datuk Seri Dr Noraini Ahmad as Deputy Women, Family, and Community Development Minister.
“These appointments show that they will not only be serving just Peninsular Malaysia but the country,” he added.
Siti Aminah, who agreed that her removal as a deputy minister was the Prime Minister’s right, said she felt proud to have made way for Noraini.
She dismissed claims that she was dropped because of non-performance.
“I was not informed that I would be dropped, but I must admit that over the last three months I have not been well as I underwent a knee operation and was recuperating,” she said, adding that she carried out limited work during the period.
