DAP Sabah is saddened to see that the office of the state assembly speaker has been politicised.

The speaker by convention should be neutral so that any business of the assembly will be impartially managed.

Unfortunately Speaker Salleh Tun Said Keruak has placed himself in a disrespectable position by recently questioning the absence of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leaders at the chief minister's and state cabinet's Hari Raya open house in Likas.

We all know that Salleh is the deputy Sabah Umno liaison chief and his appointment as speaker is already inappropriate.

While the people have refrained from questioning his appointment, it is regrettable that he chose to "aggravate" his position by unnecessarily highlighting LDP's absence at the Hari Raya function.

DAP Sabah asks when did Salleh become the BN whip in the assembly?

Sabahans are well aware of the internal problems in Umno and within the BN family. It looks like Salleh has now magnified the internal squabble between leaders in Umno and at the same time, dragged LDP into the fray.

Dr Edwin Bosi is secretary for DAP Sabah.