Hajiji claims Bung ‘lives in an imaginary world’

KOTA KINABALU: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor has accused his one-time ally, Sabah Umno chairman Datuk Bung Moktar Radin, of being someone caught in his own outdated imagination.

Hajiji said that Bung, who had become a chief critic of the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) government, did not even know what was being done to develop the state.

“I think Bung lives in his own imaginary world; he is the one outdated,” Hajiji quipped when reporters asked about Bung’s claims that the Sabah government had failed to bring development and progress to the state.

Bung, who had been travelling around the state during the Ramadan month, had been critical of the GRS government, often attacking the state government for failing proper infrastructure such as proper roads and water supply for the people.

Bung, among others, claimed that Hajiji’s Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) development plan for Sabah was failing, alleging that nothing concrete had reached the people and had only become a promise.

“Bung is out of touch with the real situation and what has been done for the people,” Hajiji said Thursday (April 4).

Hajiji and Bung fell out in Jan 2020 when Sabah Barisan Nasional pulled off the GRS-Barisan state ruling coalition, which came to power after it toppled the Parti Warisan-Pakatan Harapan – Upko state government in the 2020 snap state election.

Hajiji survived the political coup, gaining the support of assemblymen from Sabah Pakatan and defectors from Sabah Barisan.

Bung and Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal are now seen warming up on a possible electoral pact or cooperation in the coming state elections, but both sides saying they remain open to discussions.

Bung has since accused GRS and Hajiji of failing to honour a previous electoral agreement and publicly said that he does not trust GRS because they did not honour their word.

Both Sabah Umno and Warisan are seen pushing on the same attacks against the GRS state government.