PETALING JAYA, MALAYSIA: The rumour mill is again working overtime in Sabah following the resignation Wednesday (26 Mar) of Ghapur Salleh as Deputy Natural Resources and Environment Minister just eight days after being appointed by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Last week, another UMNO veteran, Kimanis MP Anifah Aman, the younger brother of Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman, declined to take up the Deputy Transport Minister post as soon as he was appointed to it. He was expected to be appointed a full minister because of his seniority.

Ever since the disastrous outing of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition in the recent polls, rumours have been making the rounds that the opposition Barisan Rakyat coalition is scouting for Barisan MPs in Sabah and Sarawak to cross over.

Although BN has lost its two-third majority control of Parliament in this elections, it managed to win by a simple majority to continue ruling thanks largely to the huge block of support from Sabah and Sarawak MPs.

The opposition has denied trying to buy MPs over to its side, but it is public knowledge that they are offering a second deputy prime minister post to a Sabah or Sarawak MP should they come into power.

However, the UMNO Member of Parliament for Kalabakan, was quick to deny that he was hopping over to the Opposition. There are suggestions that Ghafur’s resignation is an indication of internal party strife in Sabah UMNO but Ghafur has dismissed this by saying that he is still Kalabakan UMNO division chief. There are 10 UMNO MPs in Sabah.

Ghafur, who was deputy Chief Minister of Sabah previously, has not offered any reason why after just eights days into his appointment, he has decided to step down other than being reported as saying, “I just want to do my own thing. I am still a division chief and I do not want people to speculate as my commitment is to Umno and its leadership under Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.”

He was also asked why he waited eight days after being appointed to step down. Ghapur replied: “I don’t want to be tied up with government duties.” He is also reported saying that he has many children studying overseas and being a deputy minister would curtail his time to visit his them. (By Bob Teoh/ MySinchew)