The eight leaders said Bersatu deputy president and election director Hamzah Zainudin and state chief Ronald Kiandee should be the ones taking full responsibility over the party’s poor performance in the state election.

They said Sabah Bersatu secretary Yunus Nurdin’s call for Muhyiddin to step down as party president and Perikatan Nasional chairman did not represent their views.

“The Sabah PN chief (Kiandee) and election director (Hamzah) are the ones who were responsible for every preparation, strategy and decision for the state election campaign.

“Therefore, the pair should hold a post-mortem and table their findings to the Bersatu Supreme Council and answer any issue raised.

“The ones who managed the election campaign should answer to the grassroots instead of passing the blame to other parties who were not directly involved in managing the campaign,” they said in a joint statement.

It was signed by Lahad Datu Bersatu chief Ahmad Ali Akbar Khan Gulan, Jupri Omar (Kota Belud), Faizal Julaili (Papar), Ekbal Khalid (Kalabakan), Abidin Sahat (Ranau), Amat Yusof (Kimanis), Mazmin Mazin (Kinabatangan) and Ramli AG Said (Sipitang).

Yesterday, Yunus blamed Muhyiddin for Bersatu and PN’s dismal performance in the Sabah polls, with only PAS’s Aliakbar Gulasan winning in Karambunai despite the coalition fielding 41 candidates.

At a press conference joined by other leaders, he accused the former prime minister of failing to manage internal strife in Bersatu in the months before the state election, thus affecting the confidence of voters in the party.

The eight division leaders claimed that Yunus had called up all Bersatu division chiefs and candidates to the state headquarters yesterday to hand over a post-mortem report on the polls.

They claimed they were then asked to sign a petition urging Muhyiddin to resign.

They reiterated that this was not their stand as Muhyiddin was not to blame for Bersatu’s wipeout in Sabah.