LDP: We were not absent at Raya do
Published: Sep 6, 2011 11:46 AM | Updated: Sep 6, 2011 11:54 AM
It looks like there is still some bad blood between Sabah BN coalition partners Umno and LDP, with the LDP lashing out at deputy state Umno chairperson Salleh Said Keruak for insinuating that it had snubbed Chief Minister Musa Aman's Hari Raya open house.
It looks like there is still some bad blood between Sabah BN coalition partners Umno and LDP, with the LDP lashing out at deputy state Umno chairperson Salleh Said Keruak for insinuating that it had snubbed Chief Minister Musa Aman's Hari Raya open house.
LDP president Liew Vui Keong was none too happy with the allegation, stressing that Salleh, who is also the State Assembly speaker, had made an "incorrect factual statement" that he did not see any senior LDP leader at Musa's open house on the second day of Raya.
"I am disheartened that the state speaker had made such unnecessary, disparaging remarks against LDP.
"He had made an incorrect factual statement by saying our leaders were absent when my Youth chief, divisional chairpersons and members were there, but they were unnoticed in the crowd of thousands," Liew (right) said in a statement sent via SMS today.
Yesterday, Salleh was quoted by Bernama as saying he was "puzzled" by the absence of senior LDP leaders at Musa's open house held at the Likas Sports Complex, questioning if they were really too busy with other commitments, or had chosen to boycott the event.
He pointed out that the LDP leaders were seen at the open house functions of federal Rural and Regional Development Minister Mohd Shafie Apdal and Umno's Pantai Manis assemblyperson Abdul Rahim Ismail on the third and fourth days of Hari Raya respectively.
Liew said LDP leaders had made prior plans to return to their constituencies to celebrate Raya on the second day, since in previous years, the chief minister's open house had always been held on the first day of the festival.
No-show doesn't mean boycott
Liew added that Salleh (below, right) himself had confirmed that they all, LDP leaders state government ministers, had already met and exchanged Raya greetings at the celebration with the Sabah Head of State.
"There are many state leaders who were not able to be (at the) PM's open house in Putrajaya on the first day of Raya. Does that mean they also boycotted the federal government open house in KL?
"The allegation that we boycotted (the chief minister's open house) on the second day is not true and a myth. Such allegations coming out from the mouth of the state speaker is most incorrect and immature," he said.
LDP and Sabah Umno factions loyal to Musa have been at each other's throats for a few years now, especially after Musa and his predecessor, Chong Kah Kiat, engaged in a widely publicised blame game over a botched construction project that destroyed a patch of corals off the famed Sipadan island.
The spat escalated into a lawsuit by Chong against Musa over stalled construction of a Mazu or Goddess of the Sea statue in Kudat, and claims of political manoeuvring by Musa by getting Gerakan into the act to edge LDP out of Karamunting, one of only two seats out of 60 held by LDP in the state assembly.
Salleh's recent comments on the absence of LDP senior leaders at the Raya do appears to have broken a ceasefire between pro-Musa factions in Sabah Umno and LDP in recent months, and also lends credence to talk of a tussle between Musa and Shafie for the Sabah Umno leadership.
LDP president Liew Vui Keong was none too happy with the allegation, stressing that Salleh, who is also the State Assembly speaker, had made an "incorrect factual statement" that he did not see any senior LDP leader at Musa's open house on the second day of Raya.
"I am disheartened that the state speaker had made such unnecessary, disparaging remarks against LDP."He had made an incorrect factual statement by saying our leaders were absent when my Youth chief, divisional chairpersons and members were there, but they were unnoticed in the crowd of thousands," Liew (right) said in a statement sent via SMS today.
Yesterday, Salleh was quoted by Bernama as saying he was "puzzled" by the absence of senior LDP leaders at Musa's open house held at the Likas Sports Complex, questioning if they were really too busy with other commitments, or had chosen to boycott the event.
He pointed out that the LDP leaders were seen at the open house functions of federal Rural and Regional Development Minister Mohd Shafie Apdal and Umno's Pantai Manis assemblyperson Abdul Rahim Ismail on the third and fourth days of Hari Raya respectively.
Liew said LDP leaders had made prior plans to return to their constituencies to celebrate Raya on the second day, since in previous years, the chief minister's open house had always been held on the first day of the festival.
No-show doesn't mean boycott
Liew added that Salleh (below, right) himself had confirmed that they all, LDP leaders state government ministers, had already met and exchanged Raya greetings at the celebration with the Sabah Head of State.
"There are many state leaders who were not able to be (at the) PM's open house in Putrajaya on the first day of Raya. Does that mean they also boycotted the federal government open house in KL?"The allegation that we boycotted (the chief minister's open house) on the second day is not true and a myth. Such allegations coming out from the mouth of the state speaker is most incorrect and immature," he said.
LDP and Sabah Umno factions loyal to Musa have been at each other's throats for a few years now, especially after Musa and his predecessor, Chong Kah Kiat, engaged in a widely publicised blame game over a botched construction project that destroyed a patch of corals off the famed Sipadan island.
The spat escalated into a lawsuit by Chong against Musa over stalled construction of a Mazu or Goddess of the Sea statue in Kudat, and claims of political manoeuvring by Musa by getting Gerakan into the act to edge LDP out of Karamunting, one of only two seats out of 60 held by LDP in the state assembly.
Salleh's recent comments on the absence of LDP senior leaders at the Raya do appears to have broken a ceasefire between pro-Musa factions in Sabah Umno and LDP in recent months, and also lends credence to talk of a tussle between Musa and Shafie for the Sabah Umno leadership.
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