Sabah crossovers: More time needed
The plan for the crossover of BN legislators is still on and PKR needs a little more time before any announcement can be made, party vice-president Dr Jeffrey Kitingan explained today.
The plan for the crossover of BN legislators is still on and PKR needs a little more time before any announcement can be made, party vice-president Dr Jeffrey Kitingan explained today.
“We (the planners) have been meeting for the past two days (on the matter),” he said, adding that the scope has been broadened. However, he refused to elaborate, saying that it would not be wise to divulge the details.
On May 23, Jeffrey told reporters in Kuching that the first crossovers in Sabah would take place at the end of May. However, the date was changed to after the Gawai Harvest holidays in early June.
Today, he remained undeterred by talks that the hope of any Barisan MPs crossing over has faded after the recent visit of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who announced a series of goodies, including a sizeable financial allocation for all BN elected representatives to service their respective constituencies in Sabah.
Tackle Project IC
Jeffrey said the BN's move would not make any difference as the main issues and problems in Sabah remain largely unresolved and the federal authorities are seen to be lacking the will to resolve them, especially over Project IC.
Sometimes referred to as Projek Mahathir under which more than a million foreigners, mostly from the Philippines, were allegedly issued with ICs and given rights as other Malaysians, including voting in general elections.
Jeffrey, in reply to a question, said he did not think moves by certain groups in Sabah to consider the possibility of sending a petition to the British government over the so-called grievances of the indigenous groups on matters connected to the 20-Point Agreement on the formation of Malaysia would be effective..
He concurred that the 20-Point Agreement had been subrogated by the Federal Constitution and that it would be a futile exercise to pursue such matter by petitioning to the British government.
Jeffrey said a better option would be for Sabah BN elected representatives to leave the ruling coalition and join the opposition and work together to bring the government down through the legal process.
He was referring to a recent statement by Consumer Association of Sabah and Labuan (Cash) president Patrick Sindu who said an action group was mulling the possibility after so many unresolved issues and problems in Sabah of sending a petition to the British authorities, along the same line as Hindraf.
Baseless claim
Meanwhile, Umno Kinabatangan MP Bung Moktar Radin was quoted today by local English daily New Sabah Times as saying that PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim's claim of Sabah Barisan MPs crossing over to the opposition by September 16 as baseless.
It would be wrong to interpret the concerns raised by the MPs in Parliament as wishing to switch to the opposition, the BN Backbenchers Club deputy chairperson said.
“Our loyalty is clear, what we voiced out in Parliament was for the best interests of the people in the state,” Bung Moktar said, adding that the opposition are trying to take advantage of the situation by manipulating certain issues.
He was responding to DAP chairperson Karpal Singh's recent statement that Anwar's goal of wooing Sabah Barisan MPs to cross over will not be realised with the way the federal government is actively tackling the issue at grassroots level.
