Hajiji to remain as chief minister, says Anwar

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has given his blessings to Hajiji Noor to remain as Sabah chief minister.

Anwar also said that he wanted the Sabah government to remain strong under Hajiji’s leadership. 

"We will give room to the chief minister (Hajiji) to hold discussions and find the best formula for the good of Sabah," he told reporters after meeting with Hajiji and representatives of the state government bloc at the chief minister’s official residence in Sri Gaya, Kota Kinabalu, last night. 

Also present was Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Anwar thanked Hajiji and the Sabah elected representatives present at the meeting for their views, which he said were for the good of the state.

On Friday, Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) chief Bung Moktar Radin announced that Sabah Umno and BN were withdrawing their support for Hajiji as they had lost confidence in his position as chief minister. He also referred to a breach in an agreement between BN and Perikatan Nasional.

Anwar said the Sabah government had an important agenda to pursue, namely the bill to hand over the power to regulate the gas supply in the Sabah legislative assembly, in an effort to restore the state's rights.

"An important bill (will be tabled) to restore Sabah’s rights, which I presented to the Cabinet. This is a big change and, to me, a priority," he said.

On Dec 21, Anwar announced that the federal government had agreed to hand over the gas supply regulatory power in Sabah to the state government, and that the matter was agreed on as part of the federal government’s effort to honour the Malaysia Agreement 1963.