SAPP HAS GROWN IN STRENGTH

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) has grown in strength since leaving the Barisan Nasional (BN) four years ago, according to its President, Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee.

“On the very same date four years ago, we gave up all positions and power in government, but today the people of Sabah have risen and rallied behind us,” he said at the party’s Stand For Sabah gathering here yesterday.

The event was hosted without City Hall and police permit at the food court at the upper floor of Kota Kinabalu Central Market as part of SAPP’s Malaysia Day celebration.

It was also to commemorate the fourth year of SAPP leaving the government on September 17 2008.

Speaking to the media after the event, Yong said SAPP had become stronger as a party over the last four years, having been more active in more areas.

Yong said the central market was chosen to allow commoners to participate in celebrating Sabah’s 49 years of independence as well as to communicate the message of “Bangkitnya orang Sabah” (The Rise of Sabahans) to the grassroots level.

He described the event as successful with a large number of people from different race and creed, including the hawkers at the market and their customers, being able to participate in the peaceful gathering without any untoward incident.

“The event today also signifies our experience that we do not need BN, that Sabahans can have self-governance and autonomy.

“Our theme ‘Ini Kalilah Bangkitnya Orang Sabah’ is to tell the people that we can be self-reliant and can stand on our own two feet,” he said.

Various activities were prepared by the organizer to attract passers-by, including a flash mob style poco-poco dance.

The crowd-puller was the teenage girl flown by SAPP all the way from Tawau to perform a rather sensual dance routine against the beat of the popular Korean number Oppa Gumnaam Style.

Meanwhile, Yong said SAPP would for the moment focus on contesting state seats, including Api Api as well as retaining the seats it currently has, which also includes the Sepanggar parliamentary constituency.

“We have the intention and we have been and will continue preparing to contest seats in the coming election. Pending further discussions with the other oppositions, our focus for now is the state seats,” he said.

Yong also informed that SAPP had been actively discussing with Pakatan Rakyat where they have agreed that SAPP together with other state parties should contest the majority of state seats while national parties focus on parliamentary seats to facilitate their efforts to wrestle Putrajaya.

He added this was consistent with the vision of SAPP to ensure an autonomous state government in Sabah, not a powerless federal-appointed state government.

Yong also said SAPP welcomed the recently unveiled Kuching Declaration by Pakatan Rakyat, saying some of the major components in the declaration were in line with SAPP’s struggle for Sabah.

“Some of the things they talked about, like autonomy, petroleum royalty and Borneonisation are actually in the Eight-Point Declaration for Change that was approved by SAPP the day it left BN on September 17, 2008.

“Obviously, we welcome the Kuching Declaration as it confirmed and endorsed what we already adopted in our own declaration,” he said. (BP)