Sabah opposition group hopes others will stay out
Published on: Thursday, October 13, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: Sabah opposition front United Sabah Alliance (Gabungan Sabah) is asking peninsula-based parties to allow their local counterparts to contest against Barisan Nasional in the next general election unhindered.The alliance chairman, Datuk Mohd Noor Mansor, also expressed hope that local parties led by former Umno vice president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal and former Sabah PKR chief Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin will come to an arrangement that will avoid multiway contests."In any case, Gabungan Sabah will respect the choice of these new parties whether to join Gabungan Sabah or not but we hope that the new local parties can see the reality in forging a one-to-one fight against the Barisan Nasional and Malaya parties" said Mohd Noor in a statement here.ADVERTISEMENT The alliance was formed in March 2015 consisting of local parties Sabah Reform Party headed by Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, Sabah Progressive Party Datuk Yong Teck Lee, and Parti Cinta Sabah headed by Datuk Wilfred Bumburing, together with NGOs like the APS (Angkatan Perubahan Sabah), UBF (United Borneo Front), Sunduvan Sabah and MOSIK (Momogun Movement For Self Determination).When asked to elaborate on the opposition alliance, Jeffrey reiterated that the local party would push forward with its Sabah agenda."I think it, 'one-to-one', here means Agenda Sabah vs Agenda Malaya. Gabungan is hoping that Malayan opposition parties will let Sabah opposition parties tackle BN Sabah while they, Pakatan, tackle BN in Malaya," he said.The statement will come as a blow to federal opposition pact Pakatan Harapan in Sabah, who are hoping to widen their base in next election.ADVERTISEMENT PKR and DAP have both publicly stated their willingness to work with local opposition but the latter specifically named only under the condition that they would represent the opposition in the four state seats and two parliament seats which they won in the the 2013 elections.Earlier, Mohd Noor said Gabungan Sabah will launch its charter on November 20 next month, following the party congresses of Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS) on October 16 and Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) on October 23 this month.
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Sabah's opposition is increasingly crowded, especially after the exodus of several leaders from national parties in search of a localised platform to push for Sabahan rights and autonomy from the federal government.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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Shafie, who is Semporna MP and a former Umno vice president, had announced his party, a rebrand of an existing shell party, with Penampang MP and former PKR vice president Darrell Leiking while Lajim, announced he was starting his own party after leaving PKR.Likas state assemblyman and former Sabah DAP secretary Junz Wong also resigned from the party but has yet to publicly announce his next move, although he is widely expected to join Shafie.