Sabah Pakatan leaders deny talk of Musa’s return

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Pakatan Harapan leaders have expressed shock over a report that former chief minister Tan Sri Musa Aman will make a comeback via the coalition.

In a joint statement issued three hours after the report appeared Friday (Sept 15), Sabah Pakatan leaders issued a blunt denial, saying that Musa was never discussed in any meeting.

“Sabah Pakatan’s stand is that any important decision related to the mandate and people’s confidence must be considered thoroughly and decided unanimously at Sabah Pakatan leadership level,” said the five party leaders in the statement on Friday (Sept 15).

The five were Sabah Pakatan chairman Datuk Christina Liew, Upko president Datuk Ewon Nenedick, Sabah DAP chairman Datuk Frankie Poon and Sabah Amanah chairman Lahirul Latigu.

They added that Sabah Pakatan would meet soon to discuss the issue and look at the coalition’s political direction for the next state election, which is due at any time before September 2025.

It is unclear how talk of Musa’s comeback emerged but political circles speculate that his name and others might have been mentioned casually during informal discussions.

Musa, who lost his grip on the state government when the Parti Warisan-Pakatan Harapan coalition toppled his 15-year hold on the state government under Barisan Nasional in the 2018 general election, has remained with Umno.

Musa attempted to take back power and topple the Warisan-Pakatan state government led by Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal in July 2020.

However, the attempt failed when Shafie dissolved the state assembly, triggering a snap state election in September 2020.

In the polls Sabah Barisan did not field Musa to defend his Sibuga seat.