'Your hands are dirty too': Sabah Umno rebukes Armizan over letterhead row

Summary

• Sabah Umno accuses Armizan Ali of political hypocrisy for criticising the use of the coalition government’s letterhead in a BN-Harapan electoral pact announcement.

• Rosman Ahir Zaman claims GRS previously used official state symbols for political statements.

• He dismisses Armizan’s remarks as a “cheap excuse” to sow doubt and confusion amid rising BN-Harapan cooperation.

Sabah Umno has accused Armizan Ali of “political hypocrisy of the highest order” for criticising BN and Pakatan Harapan’s use of the coalition government’s letterhead in an announcement on its electoral alliances for the Sabah polls.

State Umno strategic communications director Rosman Ahir Zaman claimed the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) deputy secretary-general’s recent condemnation of the matter rang hollow as GRS itself had previously utilised the official state emblem when issuing political statements.

“Before pointing fingers at others, Armizan should first look in the mirror. Where was Armizan’s ‘legal awareness’ then? Completely silent?

“This hypocrisy is utterly repulsive. Don’t hide behind the mask of legal sanctity while your own hands are dirty from manipulating official state symbols for narrow political interests.

“(Armizan) speaks as if he’s a moral champion, when in fact, he is the architect of double standards in Sabah politics,” Rosman (above) said in a statement today.

He asserted that Armizan’s remarks were merely a “cheap excuse” to create an impression of disunity among coalition government parties.

Rosman stressed that the rakyat will not be easily fooled by “moral-sounding” statements that are actually “panicked responses” to the increasingly improving cooperation between BN and Harapan in Sabah.

“Armizan is in no position to speak about principles or integrity as long as he and his party continue to borrow legitimacy from fragile and opportunistic cooperations.

“Stop playing with words under the guise of ‘safeguarding the coalition’s image’ when the real intent is to sow doubt and confusion,” Rosman added in conveying Sabah Umno’s “advice” to the domestic trade and cost of living minister.

Unnecessary political controversy

Recently, Armizan, a member of the unity government’s leadership consultative council, took issue with the use of the coalition’s stationery to announce an electoral alliance for the upcoming state election.

In particular, Armizan reportedly said the unity government secretariat’s chief, Umno secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki and his Harapan counterpart Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, had triggered unnecessary political controversy in Sabah with their announcement.

Insisting that Asyraf and Saifuddin exercise greater care in their actions, Armizan said the official unity government secretariat letterhead should only be used for announcements reflecting the consensus of all coalition parties.

On May 9, the duo jointly announced a cooperation between BN and Harapan for the Sabah state election in a statement featuring the disputed letterhead, which displays the logos of the coalition government parties.

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