KOTA KINABALU: Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Joseph Pairin Kitingan  said former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s resignation from Umno is not an unusual thing.

Datuk Seri Panglima Joseph Pairin Kitingan

It was a common thing for veteran party members to resign and younger ones to join a party, Pairin said when asked to comment on Mahathir’s decision to leave Umno, citing among other reasons a loss of confidence in the current Umno leadership.

“Just because it is Tun, the media used it as an attraction for people and made it into a huge matter,” he said.

Pairin said it was Tun’s decision to resign from Umno and it would not affect the party or any individual, and people had accepted the matter as something that had already happened.

He felt Dr Mahathir should remain calm in his retirement years and the matter would not put any pressure on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Dr Mahathir’s sudden resignation from the party raised doubts among the people since his son was still in the party, he said.

“But we need not dwell much on that; we should be united and move forward, do our job and responsibility that can contribute to the development of the country and help the people,” he said. He added that there were other matters that needed the government’s full attention and were more important to be solved such as illegal immigrants and the plight of the poor.