Kota Kinabalu: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) Supreme Council member and Vice Youth Chief Yong Yit Jee slammed the Democratic Action Party (DAP) over its participation in the Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional seat arrangement for the coming Sabah state election, calling it a “direct blow to Sabah DAP’s long-claimed autonomy”.
“In November last year, DAP’s Sec-Gen declared that Sabah DAP had been granted autonomy to negotiate its own cooperation. Yet, barely six months later, the Unity Government’s latest statement proves that was a false promise,” said Yong, referring to the joint statement issued by the Unity Government’s Secretariat on Friday.
Yong pointed out that the statement mentioned that all final decisions would be made by the top leaderships of PH and BN at the national level.
“May I ask DAP both national and Sabah is this what they call autonomy? Sabah DAP cannot even decide its own seat allocations. Everything is determined in Kuala Lumpur, yet they continue to claim they are autonomous?” he said.
He said Sabah DAP’s inconsistency is further exposed by their past denial of cooperation with Umno before the 2022 general election, only to now sit in the same government, and worse, follow top-down decisions from national party leadership.
“Sabah DAP has gone from denying alliances to becoming mere executors of KL’s orders. The people of Sabah are not forgetful.
“One statement from the Unity Government has exposed all their falsehoods,” he said.
Yong said Sabahans need a political party that will stand firmly on local rights and not serve as agents for Malayan parties.
“Sabah is not a vassal of Malayan parties. Decisions affecting our state should not come from distant KL. The people of Sabah deserve genuine autonomy and self-determination.”
He called on Sabahans to support a truly local-based government in the upcoming polls.
“Now is the time for us Sabahans to unite and build the Sabah we rightfully deserve,” he said.
