IF Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is serious about forming the next government at Federal level, it should strive to cooperate with and support local parties like the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP), instead of antagonizing and belittling it, said Datuk Nahalan Damsal, former PKR Batu Sapi division chief.
He asserted that PR should regard SAPP as its close ally, and not enemy.
“Pakatan Rakyat leaders must realize that our common enemy here is Umno/Barisan Nasional (BN), not any local parties,” he stressed.
He stressed this in response to a statement made by Sabah DAP Publicity Secretary, Dr Edwin Bosi on Monday, that it is only through the national parties that Sabahans can have a better future.
Dr Edwin also said SAPP should take the cue from another local party, Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) which he deemed to have failed to achieve anything, during its nine-year rule outside of the BN coalition. Realising that it was getting nowhere, PBS later rejoined BN until today.
However, Nahalan who is also a former Umno leader and an assistant state minister under BN contended that the same cannot be said of SAPP, as the latter had pulled out from the ruling coalition to continue with its struggle for the state and its people, among others to fight for political autonomy.
“Unlike SAPP, PBS has clearly abandoned whatever struggle it used to have in the past when it rejoined BN, for the obvious reason to survive and so that its leaders could enjoy all the perks and privileges that come with their positions in the government. But, for SAPP, it was exactly the opposite, as they sacrificed all that they were enjoying when they withdrew from BN.
“And I believe if PBS were to remain in the opposition today, it would have formed the State government in the last general elections,” he pointed out.
He further noted that PBS had rejoined BN in 2002 when the Chief Minister rotation system was still in place, with hope of jumping onto the bandwagon later.
Unfortunately, the system was subsequently scrapped by its initiator cum former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammed, in March 2004.
Nahalan who is currently still with Sabah PKR also took a swipe at Dr Edwin for belittling SAPP’s struggle for Sabah and its people, especially over its intention to take the Federal Government and the British government to court for dishonouring the Malaysia Agreement, if they come into power.
He described Dr Edwin’s remark as unnecessary and unbecoming of someone who regarded himself a leader.
“No one would respect us if we don’t respect ourselves. This is the problem with Sabah when our leaders are subservient. To be humble is one thing, but to simply allow the Federal leaders to ride on our backs as they wished is silly. American statesman Martin Luther King Jr once said: “A man can't ride your back unless it's bent.”,” he said, adding that this also demonstrated that Sabah leaders who are in national parties are always subservient to their political masters from Peninsular Malaysia.
He continued that Dr Edwin must not blame a majority of the Sabah people, the natives especially, for being scornful if not hostile towards Peninsular Malaysia-based parties, as the result of being mistreated for the past 16 years since Umno/BN took over the helm of Sabah.
He also rubbished Dr Edwin for calling SAPP a Sabah-KL registered party, describing it as a silly-and-childish remark.
“Tell me which political party in this country is not approved by KL? Is Sabah DAP not approved by KL?” he asked.
Touching on the imminent Batu Sapi by-election, Nahalan fervently urged the people of Sabah, the voters in Batu Sapi in particular, to treat it as a mini
“Window Of Opportunity” for them to regain their pride and dignity and to free themselves from ‘colonialisation’ by the Federal government.
He said this is especially true as, the standard of living for the people of Batu Sapi not only had not improved but worsen since BN came into power 16 years ago.
“Since BN took over the helm of the State, the people of Batu Sapi, the youths especially, were mostly jobless and many of them had to leave home to seek employment outside Sabah, in Peninsular Malaysia especially,” he noted.
He cited for example, before BN came to power, a majority of the workers in Innoprise Plantations Bhd (Formerly known as Sinora) were locals but after it was privatized, a majority of its workers are foreigners.
He thus reiterated his call to the Batu Sapi folks to give their full support to SAPP, citing the fact that it is a well-established local multiracial party that is committed to its struggle for the people, as clearly reflected in its 8-point declaration.
As for the choice of candidate, Nahalan stressed that Batu Sapi folks must elect someone who is truly committed and is not afraid of voicing out against the power-that-be in championing the rights and interest of the people, instead of someone who is subservient and an 'agent' to his/her political master.
On the possibility of PR and SAPP facing off each other in the event of a three-corner fight with BN, he was convinced that the people of Batu Sapi are wise enough to decide who to cast their vote to.
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