KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Wanita UMNO has expressed full support for UMNO president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi amid calls for him to step down following the poor showing of UMNO/BN in the recent six state elections.
Sabah Wanita UMNO chief, Senator Datuk Noraini Idris, said that urging the party president to resign is not the only way to solve the problem; instead, all parties need to find a solution to win back the support of Malay voters for UMNO.
“Sabah Wanita UMNO will continue to support Zahid’s leadership; UMNO members need to be rational and fair in dealing with this issue without putting the blame solely on the President; we should focus on restoring and empowering UMNO,” she said in a statement after chairing the Sabah Wanita UMNO meeting here on Friday.
According to Noraini, a period of eight months is not sufficient to explain the alliance between UMNO and PH, especially involving DAP, and this opportunity was used by Perikatan Nasional to fan racist sentiments, provocation, and extreme slander that poisoned the minds of the people, especially the Malay voters, to reject UMNO/BN in the recent state elections.
Noraini, who is also Penampang Wanita UMNO chief, said every party in this country goes through the history of ups and downs in politics as experienced by PAS and PKR, but its members never asked their president to resign.
When asked whether the dismal performance of UMNO/BN in the recent six-state election in the peninsula is also affecting the strength of Sabah UMNO, Noraini disputed it, saying those notions are played up by the opposing party.
She said the political landscape and issues are different in Semenanjung, and Sabah UMNO members should not be easily influenced and swayed by this propoganda but instead focus on working hard to strengthen the party and be united to face the next Sabah elections.
