Sabah Umno divisions free to nominate candidates

By MUGUNTAN VANAR (THE STAR)

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Umno will allow all its 25 divisions to independently nominate their choice of candidates for the party elections in December.

State chief Datuk Musa Aman said that the party divisions were “free” to make their own choices for various posts in the supreme council.

However, he stressed that all branches and divisions must conduct their meetings in an orderly fashion and in accordance with party rules and regulations.

“What is important is for Umno to be strengthened in the state,” the Chief Minister said after chairing the state liaison committee meeting for the first time at its new multimillion-ringgit, 12-storey building here on Sunday.

Musa said that at the meeting, he stressed on the importance of all Umno elected members in continuing to work hard in their constituencies in view of the mandate given by the people.

The meeting also fully endorsed Sabah Umno's undivided support for party president Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in the light of current political developments, including Sabah Progressive Party's push for a vote of no-confidence against Abdullah, also the Prime Minister.

On a question whether he will be defending his supreme council post or planning to seek a higher post in the party, Musa said that it was too early for him to decide.

Petronas Adviser

I have been asked by the media and commentators in my blog as to whether I would quit as adviser to Petronas following my quitting as an UMNO member.I would like to believe it is not exclusive to UMNO members.

Prior to my being adviser, the post was held by Tun Hussein Onn who was appointed by me following his resignation as Prime Minister.

When UMNO was made illegal and UMNO Baru was formed Tun Hussein remained outside the party but this did not affect his position in Petronas. He remained Petronas adviser until he passed away.

Tun Hussein was also ISIS (Institute of Strategic and International Studies) chairman from 1984 until his demise.As I have stated before I have no intention of quitting. It is ridiculous if all advisorial appointments subject the appointee to saying only the things that please the Government.

The Government is free to remove me from this position as it sees fit.Dr M threatened judgesBoth the New Straits Times and the Star today chose to splash Justice Dato Ian Chin’s “stunning” claims of my alleged interference in the judiciary, providing brief respite from the current issues of oil price hike etc etc I will refrain from commenting for now and will do so in due time. However, I am quite curious about what Ian Chin considers as “veiled threat”. Perhaps he could be more specific as his allegations are very serious.

By Tun Dr Mahathir

www.chedet.com

Fuel hike: 78 sen more to RM2.70 per litre

The government (Pak Lah) has announced that petrol price will go up by 78 sen at midnight - a 40.6 percent jump from RM1.92 per litre to RM2.70.