Tunku hails Stephens’ closure of KDM party as ‘act of patriotism’
Published on: Thursday, December 28, 1967
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He said he also received telegrams from members who were unable to attend due to unforeseen circumstances but who said in the telegrams that they were fully supporting the decision made by the Upko National Council to dissolve the party and to join Usno en bloc.
The Secretary-General said that there will be only one item on the Agenda for discussion tomorrow. This is the question of dissolving Upko.
The Upko National Council met on Sunday 10th December. At this meeting, the Upko President, Dato Donald Stephens introduced a motion calling for the dissolution of the Upko so that there would be only one bumiputra party in Sabah.
Dato Stephens said then that the time had come to stop all the squabbling and jockeying for power which if allowed to go on could destroy all hopes of bumiputra unity and prevent peace and stability in Sabah. He said he had thought the matter over seriously and came to the conclusion that the only way to achieve a true bumiputra unity was for all Upko members to join Usno and if this was to succeed the Upko members should not talk about conditions but should ask only that they be allowed to join the Usno.
The resolution received the full backing of the National Council. The decision to dissolve the Upko was hailed by leaders in West Malaysia. Tunku Abdul Rahman, the Prime Minister of Malaysia hailed the decision as an “act of patriotism unsurpassed anywhere within Malaysia”.
Usno leaders have been quiet on the matter, although the Alliance Chairman, Tun Datu Mustapha in a statement later said that he would like to consult with his colleagues first.
Meanwhile, the Upko Secretary-General said that he was confident the Congress of delegates would support the decision of the National Council. He also added that the meeting tomorrow will be an open one and other members of Upko, who have not been chose as delegates for the meeting will also be welcome to attend.
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