Persuading Sabah MPs to stay in BN

Persuading Sabah MPs to stay in BN

The Malaysian Insider, June 16 2008.

KOTA KINABALU, June 15 — The race is on to prevent Datuk Yong Teck Lee and the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) from leaving Barisan Nasional.

Several Umno politicians are in Kota Kinabalu trying to persuade Yong from making the SAPP an independent political party, a move that will reduce BN majority in Parliament by two seats and heap more pressure on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Early indications point to the prime minister's charm offensive ending in despair. So far the Umno politicians have not been able to make headway with the SAPP president, who believes that the time is ripe to "turn back the clock" and bring back political power from the federal government to Sabah.

Yong wants to take SAPP out of BN and make it a true multi-racial party which represents the interest of Sabah. Only after the next general election will the party decide whether to join BN or Pakatan Rakyat.

By then Yong hopes that other disgruntled Sabah MPs from Umno, Parti Bersatu Sabah and UPKO would have joined the SAPP, giving it a better bargaining position to extract more Cabinet positions from whoever controls Parliament.

Yong has told his friends that the SAPP, which has two MPs, will not be joining Pakatan Rakyat just yet. SAPP's declaration of independence could come as early as next week.

And Umno politicians who met Yong said: "There's a strong anti-federal sentiment in Sabah, especially among the Chinese and Kadazandusuns. Yong is hoping to ride on this feeling. He wants Labuan to be returned to Sabah and thinks that Sabah should model itself after Sarawak which has more autonomy."

The Sabah for Sabahan sentiment is also pervasive among other BN component parties but for now there is no sign of crossover. Still, the loss of two SAPP MPs from the backbench will create unease among BN and put more pressure on Abdullah to speed up his succession plan.

Abdullah's statement that he will hand over power to Najib has been well received but some BN officials are pushing for a handover date, something Abdullah supporters say will make him a "lame duck" prime minister.

If the SAPP leaves BN, this will be interpreted as a loss of confidence in Abdullah's leadership.


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the tables has turned?...

PM unaware of Sabah MPs forming own bloc

Wednesday, 18 June 2008
KOTA KINABALU: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is unaware of any move by Sabah MPs forming an independent bloc.

“No, I have not been told,” he replied to reporters when asked if he has been told about the speculation of Sabah MPs forming their own coalition.

The Prime Minister was here to close the Second International CEOs Conference.

Abdullah also held a dinner meeting with Umno grassroots leaders before returning to Kuala Lumpur last night.

In a related development, the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) is scheduled to make a major announcement today.

The press conference of SAPP president Datuk Yong Teck Lee is scheduled for 2pm, according to a senior party leader who spoke on condition of anonymity.

He said the party leadership would make an important announcement and declaration, and described deputy president Datuk Raymond Tan’s statement on a speculated shift in political power as “politicking”.

The official claimed that the announcement would have national implications and had been thought out for the state and Sabahans
[“We are not lone rangers in this move,” [/color]he said, declining to give further details.

Talk of a group of Barisan Nasional MPs seeing “eye to eye” on how to work as a pressure bloc has raised the political temperature in Sabah since last week.

A statement by Umno’s Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah on Saturday that a component party could be pulling out of Barisan soon led to denials by Sabah leaders and several Barisan component party leaders.

Despite the denials, there has been no stop to talk that several of them would make the move anytime from today.

This group, said to comprise up to 18 of 25 Sabah MPs, is believed to be preparing to form a coalition of its own to work with counterparts in Sarawak and peninsular Malaysia from within Barisan or outside, including Pakatan Rakyat.

Adding fuel to the fire yesterday was the absence of several Barisan MPs during Abdullah’s visit.

A notable absentee was SAPP president Yong.

Until Monday, Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman, who is state Barisan chairman, has maintained that there was no indication of any component party quitting the ruling coalition.

Yong could not be reached for comment while deputy president Tan, who is a Deputy Chief Minister, stated that being vocal did not mean that the party was leaving Barisan.

Among those who have been vocal on Sabah issues in the wake of the March 8 general election showing were Musa’s brother Kimanis MP Datuk Anifah Aman, Kalabakan MP Datuk Abdul Ghapur Salleh, Upko deputy president Datuk Wilfred Bumburing, the MP for Tuaran, and PBS vice-president Datuk Edmond Chong, the Bati Sapi MP.

“It is not that they are planning to jump to Pakatan Rakyat parties. They have reached some sort of a consensus on forming an independent bloc for the people of Sabah and change in the country and may use an existing Barisan component for that bloc,” is how an observer sees it.

Among the key issues agreed on were political autonomy, 20% oil royalty by Jan 1, 2009, return of Labuan by 2010, resolving the illegal immigrant problem in a humane manner, having just participation in the federal administration and reviewing unfair and imprudent federal laws. - The Star

Sabah party to leave BN today?

KOTA KINABALU, June 18 — Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president Datuk Yong Teck Lee is expected to make "a very important announcement" today that may change the direction of the party.

According to a senior party official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the announcement to be made had been well thought out with the interests of the state and the people in mind.

However, he declined to divulge more details yesterday, saying "you just wait for the announcement tomorrow (today)".

He claimed that the party would not be the "Lone Ranger" in this case.

On Monday, SAPP deputy president Datuk Raymond Tan denied that the party would leave the Barisan Nasional (BN).

He said the party had not discussed the matter and gave the assurance that SAPP would remain a BN component party.

On Sunday, Gua Musang Member of Parliament Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah of Umno hinted that a BN party from East Malaysia might leave the coalition before the end of the month.

Meanwhile, a political observer said the purported announcement by SAPP today was probably just a rumour and it was left to be seen.

In another development, Dr Chong Eng Leong, a strong advocate of the issue of illegal immigrants and "Project ICs" in Sabah, has quit Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), another BN component party.

"My participation in politics is for Sabah, not for PBS. I cannot pursue my fight for Sabah's security and sovereignty within Malaysia via PBS anymore. We say "Patriotisme Asas Perpaduan" (unity the basis for patriotism) but these are only words. We must show it by action," he said, adding that his resignation was with immediate effect.

Dr Chong, who was a PBS supreme council member and the party's Luyang division chief, had been critical of the federal government for not taking action on the calls to address the issues of illegal immigrants and alleged illegal issuance of MyKad to foreigners. — Bernama