Quit for Sabah's sake, CM and reps urged after latest evidence dump

Summary

• Warisan assemblyperson Justin Wong says the 300 pages of “evidence” must have rattled those implicated in the Sabah corruption scandal.

• He also recalls Sabah Chief Minister Hajiji Noor’s previous statement that elected representatives’ salaries are inadequate.

Sabah Chief Minister Hajiji Noor and the assemblypersons implicated in the corruption scandal in the state were urged to resign after new evidence was submitted to the MACC.

Warisan assemblyperson Justin Wong said the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) leaders must choose an “honourable exit if they still love Sabah”.

“They must be feeling scared and shaken right now. I believe they couldn’t sleep last night,” he said in a statement, referring to the whistleblower businessperson who submitted nearly 300 pages of documents to the MACC yesterday afternoon.

“Just imagine how bad the GRS government was when it comes to corruption - there are 300 pages of money trail documents proving that the elected representatives under the leadership of Hajiji were involved in corrupt activities,” he alleged.

The Sri Tanjong assemblyperson also recalled Hajiji’s earlier comment about the inadequacy of elected representatives’ salaries.

“This foolish statement from Hajiji has spread throughout Sabah. I believe there is no Sabahan who hasn’t heard of this joke: ‘YB salary not enough to eat’,” Wong added.

‘Financial contributions’

Following the emergence of the scandal late last year, after videos unleashed by the businessperson implicated a number of state lawmakers, the chief minister suggested the clips could be related to political donations and reiterated that salaries alone were insufficient.

The GRS chairperson stressed that his assemblypersons have never solicited bribes, but noted that it would be a “lie that political parties and politicians do not accept political funding from donors.”

“I conveyed this to the prime minister last week. Everyone understands that political funding is not wrong in this country or other countries.

“How can a political party function without financial contributions from those who can afford it? If we were to rely solely on the salaries of elected representatives, there wouldn’t even be enough to eat,” he said.

Hajiji has also accused the whistleblower of being part of a campaign to undermine his administration.

The 36-year-old businessperson, who claimed the assemblypersons accepted bribes in exchange for mineral exploration licences, is also accused of being part of a cartel aiming to monopolise mining activities in the state.

Yesterday, the whistleblower handed over a phone containing WhatsApp messages related to the case and nearly 300 pages of evidence to the MACC.

His lawyer, Mahajoth Singh, said the evidence contains names of witnesses, locations, call logs, and share transfers done in a “clandestine” manner.

“This is not complete evidence. This is furtherance to the nine videos as well as the 50-page statement that was given (by the whistleblower),” he added.

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