Activist: Celebrating Musa a waste when Sabahans in dire straits
An activist from a Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) student group urged for governor Musa Aman's birthday celebration to be cancelled.
Aliff Danial said public funds should be channelled towards solving problems in the state.
He condemned the GRS-led state government for spending...
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Free Malaysia Today
5 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Bung should be the last to talk about loyalty, says Joniston
GRS information chief Joniston Bangkuai said the coalition had never been reliant on Sabah Umno. (Japen pic) PETALING JAYA : Gabungan Rakyat Sabah information chief Joniston Bangkuai today hit back at state Umno chief Bung Moktar Radin for saying it was tough to work with GRS due to its past betrayal. Joniston, who is also the Parti Bersatu Sabah information chief, said Bung was the last person who should be talking about loyalty or sincerity. 'It was Bung who conspired with Warisan and Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat in January 2023 to topple the (state) government led by chief minister Hajiji Noor. 'Bung wasn't betrayed, he was the one betraying (others). 'Even while sitting in the state Cabinet, he had no respect for his colleagues in the state government led by Hajiji,' he said in a statement. He said during the political crisis, several Umno assemblymen refused to support Bung's move and instead backed Hajiji, as did Pakatan Harapan. 'If anyone needs to reflect, it's Bung. 'Why did your colleagues abandon your 'Kinabalu Move'? 'Why did PH support Hajiji instead of you? The answer is obvious: you didn't have their trust,' he said. Joniston said GRS had never been reliant on Umno and reiterated that the coalition was fully prepared to face the upcoming state election independently. Earlier today, Bung said Sabah Umno would not work with GRS in the upcoming state election and that it would only consider working with the party after the state polls. Citing his party's 'dark and bitter' past with GRS, Bung said they needed to practise caution in working with the coalition again. PH and Barisan Nasional have already announced an alliance for the Sabah polls, which must be held by the end of the year. This prompted GRS to threaten to go solo. GRS and PH are currently allies in Hajiji's state government while BN sits in the opposition in the Sabah legislative assembly. However, PH chairman Anwar Ibrahim had expressed confidence that PH, BN and GRS would be able to agree on an alliance for the state election. Last week, the prime minister said discussions among the three coalitions were ongoing. Despite the negotiations, several Sabah BN and GRS leaders have traded barbs over the past few weeks, including Bung and Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku president Jeffrey Kitingan.
New Straits Times
9 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Bung the last person to talk about loyalty
KOTA KINABALU: Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) Information Chief Datuk Joniston Bangkuai has responded to Sabah Umno chief Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin's latest remarks, labelling them arrogant and disconnected from Sabah's political landscape. "Bung is the last person who should talk about loyalty or sincerity. He tried to bring down the very government he was part of, just to serve his own ambition. That speaks volumes," he said. He rejected Bung's claim that GRS betrayed Barisan Nasional (BN), calling it a clear attempt to distort the facts and shift blame. "It's Bung who conspired with Warisan and Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat (PKDM) in January 2023 to topple the government led by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor. "He wasn't betrayed, he was the one doing the betraying. Even while sitting in the state Cabinet,he had no respect for his colleagues in the state government led by Hajiji as Chief Minister." Joniston added that GRS was never reliant on Umno. "If anyone needs to reflect, it's Bung. Why did even your own colleagues abandon your 'Langkah Kinabalu'? Why did PH support Hajiji, not you? The answer is obvious because the trust wasn't with you," he said. "Sabah isn't your political lifeline. Don't treat this state like your fallback plan," he said. Earlier today, Bung had said Sabah Umno will not cooperate with GRS for the 17th state election. He stressed that the party will only consider any form of cooperation with GRS after the election. Bung claimed that the bitter experience of working with GRS in the past has made Sabah Umno more cautious in forming political alliances, especially with the Sabah-based coalition, in orderto avoid being betrayed again. He had earlier announced BN's cooperation with Sabah Pakatan Harapan (PH), even before any formal decision was made by the top leadership of both coalitions. The collaboration was later formalised through a joint statement by leaders from both BN and PH at the federal level.
The Star
10 hours ago
- The Star
US to scale down its military bases in Syria, envoy says
FILE PHOTO: A soldier from the US-led coalition stands guard during a joint U.S.- Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) patrol in the countryside of Qamishli in northeastern Syria February 8, 2024. REUTERS/Orhan Qereman/File Photo ANKARA (Reuters) -The United States will scale down its military presence in Syria to one base from eight and U.S. policies will shift in the country "because none of them worked" over the last century, the new U.S. special envoy has said. Thomas Barrack, who President Donald Trump named special envoy last month shortly after he unexpectedly lifted U.S. sanctions on Syria, made the comments in an interview with Turkish broadcaster NTV late on Monday. The U.S. military has about 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria, mostly in the northeast. They are working with local forces to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State, which in 2014 seized large swathes of Iraq and Syria but was later pushed back. Since rebels ousted Syria's former President Bashar al-Assad in December, the United States and other countries are re-engaging with Damascus under new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa. Barrack, also U.S. ambassador to Turkey, raised the American flag over the ambassador's residence in Damascus last week for the first time since 2012. When asked how the Trump administration will shape its Syria policy and whether the U.S. is considering troop withdrawal from Syria, Barrack said: "What I can assure you is that our current Syria policy will not be close to the Syria policy of the last 100 years, because none of these have worked." Reducing the number of bases to one from eight was an important part of that shift, he said, according to an interview transcript. Two security sources in bases where U.S. troops are deployed told Reuters in April that military equipment and vehicles had already moved out of eastern Deir el-Zor and were being consolidated in the province of Hasakah. One of the sources said the consolidation plan involved pulling all U.S. troops out of Deir el-Zor province. Barrack said that the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were a U.S. ally and a "very important factor" for the U.S. Congress, and that directing them to integrate into a new Syrian government was also very important. "Everyone needs to be reasonable in their expectations," he said. The SDF is the main ally in a U.S. coalition against Islamic State militants in Syria. It is spearheaded by the YPG militia, which Ankara sees as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The PKK decided to disband last month after a 40-year conflict with the Turkish state. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said last week that the SDF was using "stalling tactics", despite a deal with the Syrian government to integrate into Syria's armed forces. (Reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever and Orhan Qereman; Editing by Jonathan Spicer and Aidan Lewis)
