The decision to join Bersatu was not individually made but was a collective decision, said Beaufort MP Azizah Mohd Dun.

According to her, it was also thought about deeply and went through various processes in the interest of the nation, Sabah and the constituencies the MPs represented.

"We were unanimous in the decision and it wasn’t a question of an individual’s struggle, to save oneself or having a personal agenda,” she said when met by reporters after the Malaysian Higher School Certificate (STPM) graduation ceremony of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Kota Klias in Beaufort today.

She was asked to comment on the remarks made by Kinabatangan MP Bung Moktar Radin while debating in Parliament yesterday that those individuals who had jumped party were weak, had no cause of struggle and no dignity.

Eight former Sabah Umno leaders including six elected representatives have joined Bersatu and party chairman, Dr Mahathir Mohamad handed over their Bersatu membership card to them at the Perdana Leadership Foundation building in Putrajaya on March 15.

Besides Azizah, the five other independents (after quitting Umno) were parliamentarians Abd Rahim Bakri (Kudat), Zakaria Edris (Libaran), Dr Ronald Kiandee (Beluran), and assemblypeople Hajiji Noor (Sulaman) and Masidi Manjun (Karanaan).

Two senators, Abdul Ghani Mohamed Yassin and John Ambrose, also joined Bersatu.

Azizah said crossing over to another party had been happening in the country’s politics including in Sabah such as when BN wrested Sabah in 1994 after two assemblypersons Lajim Ukin (Klias) and Rubin Balang (Kemabong) from Parti Bersatu Sabah joined BN.

She said the struggle of developing the rural areas had to continue, especially in Sabah, and she agreed with Kiandee’s statement that Bung Moktar’s remarks were just political.

- Bernama