Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) dropped a bombshell Wednesday by declaring that they have no confidence in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's leadership.SAPP President Datuk Yong Teck Lee said the party's Members of Parliament Datuk Eric Majimbun and Datuk Dr Chua Soon Bui would support a vote-of-no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister in the Parliament sitting beginning June 23 (Monday).
Should it materialise, it would be the first time such a motion is moved by a Member of Parliament from the ruling government against the PM.
SAPP, a largely Chinese-based political party in Sabah, is one of the 14 components of the BN, the ruling coalition in the Federal Government.
However, Yong ruled out the possibility of SAPP joining another party or the opposition Pakatan Rakyat. Instead, he hinted the possibility of several elected representatives from Sabah abandoning Barisan Nasional (BN) to serve as independent elected representatives.
Such move had been proposed earlier by former PM Tun Dr Mahathir, who has been at odds with Abdullah as one way to force his successor to step down before the December Umno election.
"Whether the motion is tabled by SAPP MPs or from other parties would be decided in due course," he told a packed Press conference at SAPP's headquarters in Bornion Centre, Foh Sang. Chua and Majimbun also issued separate statements (see accompanying stories).
The Press conference was attended by SAPP Sec-Gen Datuk Richard Yong, Tawau MP Datuk Dr Chua Soon Bui, Supreme Council members, party supporters as well as curious observers, including some from other political parties at the party's headquarters in Bornion Centre in Foh Sang near here.
Notably absent were Deputy President Datuk Raymond Tan who is a Deputy Chief Minister, Asst Minister Melanie Chia (SAPP Wanita Chief), Deputy Speaker Datuk Frankie Chong (Vice President), Deputy President cum Likas Assemblyman Datuk Liew Teck Chan and Youth chief-cum-Elopura Assemblyman Au Kam Wah.
Yong, a former Sabah Chief Minister, said Eric, who is overseas on official duty, had also made his stand in a signed press statement, while Tawau MP Datuk Dr Chua read her statement during the press conference.
Yong said the declaration of no-faith in the PM and the Government was to tell the Barisan Nasional (BN) Federal Government that they can no longer tolerate their insensitive attitude towards Sabah issues that are real and serious.
"BN is no more in Sabah... It is only in form, not in spirit or in substance.
"Nevertheless, our status in BN will be addressed in our Supreme Council meeting of SAPP this Friday," he added.
On what decision he expects to be made by the Supreme Council, he said all members would be given the floor to speak their minds. "I think the Supreme Council members know what I think but we will discuss it first," he said.
Asked whether the party expected to be expelled from BN, Yong said: "We have to make a stand and we will bear the consequences."
Yong said he had nothing personal against the PM, saying that his last meeting with Abdullah on May 13 in Kuala Lumpur had been very cordial.
"That was when I made it quite clear so that I was not misunderstood, I said it three times, that although there was no crossover as speculated, the Prime Minister should not rule out the possiblity of this happening sometime in the future because the issues are real, the MPs are serious," he said.
Asked what the Prime Minister's response was, he said it was the usual thing like "yes, we will look into the issue É we will consider it".
Yong admitted that when Abdullah was here to close the International CEOs Conference on Tuesday there was an attempt to get him to meet up with the Prime Minister following reports speculating SAPP would be ditching BN.
"I did not see much coming out of it (meeting with the PM)", he said.
Yong said the vote of no-confidence would go ahead, even if the party was still in BN.
As to the status of SAPP leaders in the Cabinet, assistant ministers, board of directors in government-linked agencies and councillors, he said it was the prerogative of the State Government.
Yong said he believed SAPP is not alone in its stand and feeling that Sabah was missing the window of opportunity by the delaying tactics of the Federal Government.
"Many people including MPs and BN component party leaders have expressed no confidence in the Prime Minister and some clearly asked for a change in the Government," he said.
To another question, Yong said he had in all discussions with other BN leaders impressed upon them that the current window of opportunity would not last forever.
He also admitted having met Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) de-facto leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in Hong Kong and in Kuala Lumpur.
"I met him twice É I also met with other leaders in order to assess what is the political dynamics," he said. Asked whether SAPP would change its mind if the Federal Government makes them a "counter offer", Yong said:
"I'm worried about the delaying tactics but we will find out if there is".
DAILY EXPRESS NEWS
Sabah
19/06/08
1 comment:
There is a difference between UMNO and Barisan Nasional. I want to make it clear that it is not the Barisan Nasional (BN) government, but the UMNO government. It is not the government, but UMNO. Barisan Nasional is a coalition of unequals, not equals. UMNO is the big brother in BN. Therefore UMNO must be held responsible; and more importantly, UMNO must not be allowed to hide behind the BN banner. UMNO is the enemy, not BN.
I have come to the conclusion that the easy solution is to completely defeat UMNO in the next elections.
In the 2004 elections (11th General Election), the voters gave good support to Mr.Abdullah Badawi. But reforms did not come. Why? Probably because UMNO had done well in the elections. If UMNO had done well in the elections, then the election results tell UMNO that the voters are satisfied with the status quo. If the voters are satisfied with UMNO, then no reforms are necessary. In the 2008 elections (12th General Elections), UMNO did not do well, but she managed to win. UMNO did lose the 2/3 majority in the Parliament, but she did win, nevertheless. Will UMNO undertake reforms now? I would not be surprised if she did not. Why should she? UMNO is still the winner in the elections; and she can plan to rise and may even succeed to rise again. So, as long as she wins, she will never undertake the reforms. So, how do the voters get the reforms that they need? The voters will get the reforms when UMNO is completely defeated in the 13th General Elections. If UMNO wins zero seats in the next elections (13th General Elections), then some other party would have to rule Malaysia. Let us call it Party B. If UMNO is completely defeated in the next elections (13th General Elections), then Party B would rule Malaysia. Would Party B undertake reforms? If Party B does not undertake reforms, then voters would know what to do.
There is no doubt that UMNO has used gerrymandering to strengthen herself. If we removed gerrymandering from UMNO, then there would be a reduced UMNO. So the non-UMNO voters of Malaysia have good reasons to vote against UMNO.
It is possible that UMNO has used the Police Force to strengthen herself. The Police Force is required to be neutral. But is the Police Force neutral? I appeal to the Police Force to be neutral.
So, the next step for Malaysians is to completely defeat UMNO in the next elections.
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