Sabah BN secretary Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan slams STAR president Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan's criticisms on Umno's presence in Sabah. – The Malaysian Insider pic, February 17, 2015.Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan today clarified the need for Umno's presence in Sabah to hit out at the criticism made by State Reform Party (STAR) president Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan who strongly criticised Umno's presence in the state.Rahman, who is also the Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary, said any political party including Umno had the right to come and offer itself to serve in the state as long as its presence was according to the law.The Kota Belud MP said that since the presence of Umno in the state, the Muslim Bumiputeras were seen to be more united, and this solidarity had led to political stability in Sabah."Through this political stability, everyone focused their time and energy for the development of Sabah and did not have to play politics for 24 hours," he said in a statement.The Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government minister also said that the Sabah economy was seen to be growing rapidly since Umno's presence and he described it as an "undeniable fact"."The harmony between the state and federal governments provided a catalyst for this development," he added.Rahman said that for the first time in the history of Sabah politics, the people in the state had a role and influence in determining who would become the Umno president and subsequently, Malaysia's prime minister.He said that Jeffrey should remember that Umno's presence in Sabah previously was partly due to the drastic decision of the Party Bersatu Sabah (PBS) to withdraw from the BN after the nomination day."In fact, many people said Jeffrey himself was involved in the PBS decisionto leave the BN. Why did Jeffrey not blame himself?" he asked.He said Jeffrey, who is also the Bingkor assemblyman, liked to say that Umno should be rejected by the people of Sabah because it was purportedly an external party and should not be in Sabah."The question is, why did Jeffrey choose the STAR party from Sarawak to be the patron? Isn't STAR an external party too?"Rahman said the people of Sabah particularly the Muslim Bumiputeras had never been forced to support Umno and they joined Umno out of their own free will because they felt that it was a party that could be used as the basis for their struggles."Now, the total Umno membership in Sabah is close to half a million. And for Jeffrey's information, almost 20% of Sabah Bumiputeras who are non-Muslims have joined Umno," he added. – Bernama, February 17, 2015.
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