Sapp's Yong: Pak Lah won't give up top post

Sabah Progressive Party President Yong Teck Lee does not think that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will relinquish the Umno presidency without a fight - as many political pundits have predicted.

"The reasons being that he has the majority support of Umno members and the people of Malaysia who have voted for BN and he has a comfortable majority in Parliament," Yong was quoted as saying by Bernama.

Yong also said Sapp would not return to the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition even if Abdullah announces an early leadership transition today.

"It is not a personal issue that if Pak Lah were to leave... we (Sapp) will be back in BN. We are looking at issues at large, and not necessarily just the Prime Minister of the day," the maverick Sabah leader said.

PM To Chair BN Meeting

The 68-year old Abdullah is due to chair a BN supreme council meeting at 3.30 pm today. He has promised to let the nation know if he will defend his Umno presidency at party election slated for March next year.

Abdullah is widely expected to endorse his deputy, Najib Abdul Razak, as his successor. By convention, the president of Umno also becomes the country's premier and chairman of the BN.

According to Yong, Sapp withdrew from the BN on Sept 17 because of its frustration over the delay in getting a sustainable solution to the problems now afflicting Sabahans.

He also said state Deputy Chief Minister Raymond Tan Shu Kiah had still not submitted his resignation letter to Sapp. Tan, the deputy president of Sapp, had declared himself a 'Barisan independent' after the party pulled out of the BN.