Umno vice-president Mohd Shafie Apdal said he had no problems with the Sabah Umno leadership and that his visit to the state was not aimed at grabbing party position.

shafie apdal pc 310308 shafie He said he was not ambitious to grab for position by visiting the villages in the state but was merely discharging his responsibility as the minister of rural and regional development.

"As a minister, I have to visit the villages to assist the rakyat and not to seek for position," he told reporters after opening the delegates meeting of the Papar Umno division today.

Mohd Shafie, who is also the MP for Semporna, said he visited his constituency frequently and whenever he visited other areas, people had accused him of trying to topple the leadership.

He was commenting on the statement by Umno Youth head Khairy Jamaluddin, in Keningau on Sunday that there was a 'cold war' between certain leaders in Umno in the state to the extent that the Sabah Umno Youth leadership had to be revamped with the replacement of state Youth chief, Azman Ruslan.

However on the following day, Sabah Umno deputy chief Salleh Said Keruak denied that there was a 'cold war' between certain leaders in the State Umno.

Mohd Shafie said his relationship with the state Umno leaders was good and what was more important was solidarity and unity in the party especially in facing the 13th general election.

- Bernama