KOTA KINABALU, Oct 17 — The news clipping that has been viralled on social media claiming that Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor and his deputy, Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin, met with the Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sabah Tun Juhar Mahiruddin at 2.30pm yesterday, is false.

The deputy chief minister’s press secretary, Jaafar Abd Wahid, in a statement today, said that the news clipping was actually on a news report after the 16th Sabah state election in 2020, but the date of the news was deliberately cropped, believed to confuse readers.

He said the news clipping was deliberately spread by irresponsible individuals to heat up the upcoming 15th General Election (GE15), which should not have been done as it could cause anxiety among the people.

"I received several calls and messages questioning the validity of the news. I had breakfast with Bung Moktar at his residence (yesterday) before sending him in the afternoon to the Kota Kinabalu International Airport to catch a flight to Kuala Lumpur.

"(Yesterday) The Chief Minister (Hajiji) was in Kota Marudu for the GRS (Gabungan Rakyat Sabah) Tour programme... this news clipping was spread by irresponsible individuals on social media, especially WhatsApp, " he said.

The viralled news clipping has raised questions on the status of the State Assembly following rumours that some State Assembly members from GRS would be following the move by Bandau assemblyman Datuk Wetrom Bahanda on leaving the party.

Sabah is administered by GRS and Barisan Nasional (BN) which have 53 seats in the State Assembly, compared with the opposition’s 25 seats.

Jaafar said the news clipping was being used by the opposition cybertroopers to create disunity among the government supporters, especially GRS and BN, with the upcoming GE15.

He advised the public to not be easily lured by fake news. — Bernama