Kota Kinabalu: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has given his blessings to Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor to remain as Sabah Chief Minister.
“We want the Sabah Government to remain strong under the leadership of the Chief Minister (Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor).
“We give a chance to the Chief Minister to discuss and find a formula that is good for the benefit of Sabah,” he told reporters before he and his wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail left the Chief Minister’s official Sri Gaya residence here around midnight Monday.
Anwar also thanked Hajiji and friends for all their views presented to him and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
He also said the bills to be tabled at the Special State Legislative Assembly today (Jan 10) are very important and will bring a significant change to Sabah.
Earlier, he and Ahmad Zahid met with the 44 assemblymen who supported Hajiji for about half an hour at Magellan Sutera Harbour.
Both he and Ahmad Zahid arrived at Sri Gaya at 11.21pm after they, together with Hajiji, held a meeting with Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) Chief Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin and Parti Warisan President Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal at Magellan.
Anwar went to the meeting right after he and his wife landed at Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) here about 10pm from Jakarta where he had made an official visit as Prime Minister to Indonesia.
After the meeting at Magellan, Anwar said the solution to the current political uncertainty in Sabah lies in the hands of the state leaders themselves.
He said what he and other leaders could do was only to offer advice on seeking a solution to the problem.
He said he, along with Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, were trying their best to look for the best solution to resolve the political situation.
“The current situation is improving. Zahid and I are looking for the best solution for Sabah, and the decision is to be made by Sabah leaders themselves, we can only provide advice,” he told reporters.
The talks come in the wake of Sabah State Assembly members from Umno withdrawing support for Hajiji.
However, Hajiji said on Sunday he continued to command majority support, allowing him to remain in office.
The meetings of top political leaders come days after rumours that Sabah Umno and Warisan were seeking to form a new state government after ousting Hajiji.
The Sabah State Assembly has 79 assemblymen, including six appointed members.
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