Premature to decide which coalition to go with: LDP
Published on: Monday, October 22, 2018
Kota Kinabalu: Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) President Datuk Chin Su Phin said the party, which has officially parted ways with Barisan Nasional (BN) and Umno after the 14th General Election (GE14), will support the Warisan-led State Government's policies that serve the interests of the people.He said the party, in light of the current political landscape, has to respect the people's wishes who have given their mandate to Warisan to lead the State Government. "We are now an independent Sabah-based Chinese party.
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"With over four years till the next general election, it is premature for LDP to decide which party or coalition we are going to work with," he said when officiating the 29th LDP Conference at Kian Kok Middle School, here, Sunday. Some 677 delegates, including from its Youth and Women wings, attended the conference. Chin said the change of government after the GE14 has caused LDP to be once again in the opposition side of the political divide, a role the party had not held since 1990. "Nonetheless, we are no stranger to being an opposition party.
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"In fact, I am confident that LDP is able to be an efficient and constructive opposition party as we continue to serve the people and defend the rights of the rakyat," he said.Chin expressed his sincere gratitude to the immediate past president, Datuk Seri Panglima Teo Chee Kang, for his selfless contribution and service to the party.
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During his tenure as the Minister of Special Tasks, he said Teo had done his absolute best to assist the Chinese community, schools, temples and churches in Sabah. "No doubt our State has lost an excellent Chinese leader when Teo lost the Tanjong Kapor state seat." On that note, he hoped the new State Government would appoint a Chinese Minister who specifically oversees the affairs pertaining to the Chinese community, schools, temples and churches. "I believe the Chinese community will find it easier to communicate to a Chinese Minister who understands their issues."At the same time, we hope the Warisan-led State Government will truly be transparent and corruption-free."On the other hand, Chin said Umno does not seem to have changed for the better despite a new leadership. After the last election, Umno, which has forged cooperation with PAS, is leaning towards a more extreme approach, he said. "We strongly believe that Umno is plotting to overthrow the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government and form its own new coalition government. "And Umno will do whatever it takes to accomplish this goal, be it teaming up with its old nemesis, PAS, and drawing Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and the opposition in Sarawak to its side. "The party has no desire nor intention to play the role of a responsible opposition party."Chin went on to say that the new Government was in the midst of making drastic changes to reform and strengthen the government administration. For instance, the Attorney-General and Chief Justice of Malaysia were appointed based on qualification, professionalism and merit, rather than race or creed. Chin believed that given time, the new Government will be able to perform well and address many of the existing issues, including the recognition of Unified Examination Certificate (UEC). He said both PH and BN, Umno included, have pledged to recognise UEC in their election manifestoes. While Umno and PAS are strongly against granting due recognition to UEC, he pointed out that the party did not represent the whole Malay community."LDP, MCA and Gerakan in the opposition should assist the PH government in facilitating the recognition of UEC rather than needlessly criticising the Government."MCA has tried and failed to get the BN government to recognise UEC in the past few decades, so it is only fair that we give the PH government time to work out a mechanism for the certification. "As the Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said, the new Government has to deal with uncooperative officers in policy implementation, which shows governing a country is not an easy task." Chin said the people were fed up with BN's antics and majority of the rakyat reject being governed by the coalition. On another note, Chin said the Federal Government led by Dr Mahathir and the State Government led by Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal are coming down hard on corruption, an arduous effort which LDP fully supports. "There are still a lot of issues plaguing our country, such as the immigration officer at an airport who yelled at China tourists to go back to their home country for not being able to speak in Malay, and a PAS lawmaker who deemed the attire of stewardesses too revealing and indecent." He said LDP would be willing to work with and assist the Government in bringing these problematic officers to justice, in line with the Prime Minister and Chief Minister's commitment to tackle corruption and power abuse. "Addressing corruption requires concerted effort from all parties and the people. Like the last election, a change of government would not have been possible if the people were not united. "LDP will stand by the people in weeding out corrupted officers. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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