Two senior Warisan leaders have defended their criticism of the state’s handling of the Sabah Governor’s birthday celebration, a day after coming under fire from the Chief Minister.

Warisan deputy president Datuk Darell Leiking and information chief Datuk Azis Jamman insisted their remarks were aimed at the government’s use of public funds and not at the Istana Negeri, which they said had been unfairly dragged into the political fallout.

Azis called on Hajiji to sack the minister responsible for the confusion, saying the government only scaled down the event after public backlash in a social media post on Friday night.

“YAB Dato’ Sri CM, sack your minister who announced the three-month celebration. 

“The fact that he issued a clarification it to one month and then further reduced it to only seven events—only after widespread criticism—shows that he indirectly admitted his mistake,” his post reads. 

Azis questioned whether the clarification would have even been issued had the matter not gone viral online.

“If you’re saying it was a media error, why did your minister have to come out and change the announcement—first from three months, then to one, and finally to just seven programmes?”

He added that it was the opposition’s duty to hold the government accountable when it comes to public spending.

“In a democracy, chief minister , this is what we call ‘Check and Balance’… If it were funded with personal money, no one would care. But don’t expect the people to stay quiet when taxpayers’ money is involved,” he added. 

Meanwhile, Leiking said it was the government’s own official release that led to the backlash in the first place, pointing to a sentence that stated the celebration would continue from 30 March to 21 June.

“Context matters. The government’s statement clearly used the word ‘berterusan’ (continuous), so what else were we supposed to think?” His social media post reads issued on Saturday (today).

He said critics like himself had every right to question the use of public funds and that the clarification issued after the public outcry should have come with an apology.

“The minister who issued the statement should apologise to the people of Sabah who were confused and offended by the announcement.”

Leiking also pushed back against accusations that Warisan had politicised the royal institution.

“Even the Chief Minister himself said that Tun Musa didn’t want the celebration. So who’s really dragging the Istana into this? Certainly not us.”

Both leaders were responding to a statement by Hajiji on Friday, in which he accused them of spreading falsehoods and politicising the Istana Negeri.

On Friday, Hajiji defended the celebration, saying it had been scaled down after deliberation by the State Cabinet and done in line with tradition, despite Tun Musa Aman’s initial reluctance to proceed with the event.

The controversy began earlier this week after a government statement said the Governor’s birthday celebration would run from 30 March to 21 June. 

Several media outlets interpreted this as a three-month celebration, prompting criticism on social media and from Warisan.

Although Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr Joachim Gunsalam later clarified that the seven official events would only take place in June, the political fallout has continued.

The issue has triggered a social media storm on government transparency, media accountability and the use of public resources just months ahead of a widely anticipated state election.  – March 28, 2025