The opening of 16 new Umno branches in the Silam division proves that the party and Barisan Nasional (BN) will continue to remain strong in Sabah.

Silam Umno division head Mohd Yusof Apdal said the opening of the new branches raised the number to 486 and further strengthened Umno’s position in Silam and Sabah and at the same time showed that the people still supported Umno and the BN strongly.

“The additional branches are from the Lahad Datu state constituency which recorded an additional eight branches to 257 with four new branches each for Tungku (132) and Kunak (97),” he told reporters in Lahad Datu today.

Meanwhile, he said the opening of the branches dispelled the claim by the opposition recently that many Umno members lad left the party.

“An opposition party in Sabah had acted unrealistically by issuing a statement on the number of Umno members joining his party, although in actual fact the claim was untrue and Umno still had many applications for the formation of new branches,” he added.

Yusof, who is the state assemblyperson for Lahad Datu, said the move by the opposition to disseminate untrue information aimed to raise sensation and popularise the newly-formed party.

- Bernama