Sabah head quits in job rotation

Sabah head quits in job rotation

KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia (Reuter): The head of Malaysia's Sabah state government has resigned in line with a promise made to share the job among the state's three main ethnic groups, Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said yesterday.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad immediately announced in Kuala Lumpur that Yong Teck Lee, head of the Chinese party in Sabah's National Front coalition would take over the post of chief minister of Sabah.

Salleh Said Keruak resigned as chief minister despite strong opposition in his United Malays National Organization (UMNO) to the power-sharing arrangement.

Anwar, who is also deputy president of UMNO, said state party leaders had pledged support for the new chief minister.