Sabah BN squabbles over Pensiangan seat
Joe FernandezPublished: Jan 21, 2009 3:38 PM | Updated: Jan 21, 2009 5:22 PM
The fall of the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat to the opposition Pakatan Rakyat has widened the rift in Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) over its choice of candidate, should a by-election be held for the Pensiangan parliamentary seat.
Joseph Kurup of PBRS thinks no one should stand in his way should a by-election be called.
The fall of the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat to the opposition Pakatan Rakyat has widened the rift in Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) over its choice of candidate, should a by-election be held for the Pensiangan parliamentary seat.
Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) head Joseph Kurup, who had the seat taken away last September by an Election Court, has come out hammer and tongs against Deputy Chief Minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan’s claim to the seat, accusing him of sabotaging the election machinery.
“Voters in Pensiangan are well-prepared for a possible by-election. They already know for whom to cast their votes. The election machinery is in place and intact,” said Kurup.
“As much as I wouldn’t like to say anything, I am compelled to do so in response to Pairin’s interference [...] by raising the question of the candidate. His remarks will weaken, to an extent, our election machinery. His ill-conceived remarks are definitely not in the BN spirit.”
Kurup, who was once a senior leader in Pairin’s Parti Bersatu Sabah, questioned the latter’s “credibility to assess the suitability of the candidate for Pensiangan”.
He claimed that Pairin, when Sabah chief minister, had “made no effort to take the rural people out of poverty during his administration and just focused on making sure the kayu balak (timber) disappeared as fast as possible”.
Pairin had said the selection of candidate for Peniangan “should not be automatic”.
“It is normal for BN to give the seat back to the relevant component party. But given the Kuala Terengganu by-election result, the choice of candidate is also important. The opposition could stir up issues and provoke the people against the BN,” he said.
Pairin said he was not against PBRS being allowed to re-contest Pensiangan, but was ambivalent as to whether Kurup should be the candidate. He warned that victory would be more difficult to achieve without all BN component parties unanimously endorsing the candidate.
Asked whether he meant whether Kurup should not be the BN candidate, he replied: “I am not saying that, but the candidate is very important.”
Appeal hearing next month
Senior PBS leaders, who requested anonymity, clarified in Pairin’s defence that Kurup has not been endorsed as the candidate by the BN and “should not take it for granted that he will be the best candidate”.
“In fact, having won before under rather dubious circumstances and having lost in the Election Court, it’s best that he should not consider himself to be in the running for the seat in the event of a by-election,” said one senior leader.
“He should either shortlist other PBRS candidates for BN’s consideration or we can lend him a suitable candidate.”
Former Pensiangan MP Bernard Marmat, who recently quit PBRS and joined PBS, is reportedly eyeing the seat in the event of a by-election.
The idea of a BN component party ‘lending’ a candidate to another component party has not been practised in Sabah but is rampant in neighbouring Sarawak, where Parti Rakyat Sarawak has complained that many of its seats had been ‘pinched’ over the years by other BN component parties.
Sabah People’s Progressive Party and PKR - in which Jeffrey Gimpoi Kitingan (left) is a senior leader - are eyeing the seat as well.
However, the independent Sapp may yet give way “on moral grounds” to opposition PKR whose candidate, Danny Anthony Andipai, had successfully disputed the election results in court.
The appeal against the ruling will reportedly be heard early next month, although the court can delay the verdict for six months from the time the appeal is filed.
Once the court delivers its verdict, a by-election must be called within 60 days. However, this is unlikely to happen in the March-April period because Umno faces polls and a transition in leadership.
Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) head Joseph Kurup, who had the seat taken away last September by an Election Court, has come out hammer and tongs against Deputy Chief Minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan’s claim to the seat, accusing him of sabotaging the election machinery.
“Voters in Pensiangan are well-prepared for a possible by-election. They already know for whom to cast their votes. The election machinery is in place and intact,” said Kurup.“As much as I wouldn’t like to say anything, I am compelled to do so in response to Pairin’s interference [...] by raising the question of the candidate. His remarks will weaken, to an extent, our election machinery. His ill-conceived remarks are definitely not in the BN spirit.”
Kurup, who was once a senior leader in Pairin’s Parti Bersatu Sabah, questioned the latter’s “credibility to assess the suitability of the candidate for Pensiangan”.
He claimed that Pairin, when Sabah chief minister, had “made no effort to take the rural people out of poverty during his administration and just focused on making sure the kayu balak (timber) disappeared as fast as possible”.
Pairin had said the selection of candidate for Peniangan “should not be automatic”.“It is normal for BN to give the seat back to the relevant component party. But given the Kuala Terengganu by-election result, the choice of candidate is also important. The opposition could stir up issues and provoke the people against the BN,” he said.
Pairin said he was not against PBRS being allowed to re-contest Pensiangan, but was ambivalent as to whether Kurup should be the candidate. He warned that victory would be more difficult to achieve without all BN component parties unanimously endorsing the candidate.
Asked whether he meant whether Kurup should not be the BN candidate, he replied: “I am not saying that, but the candidate is very important.”
Appeal hearing next month
Senior PBS leaders, who requested anonymity, clarified in Pairin’s defence that Kurup has not been endorsed as the candidate by the BN and “should not take it for granted that he will be the best candidate”.
“In fact, having won before under rather dubious circumstances and having lost in the Election Court, it’s best that he should not consider himself to be in the running for the seat in the event of a by-election,” said one senior leader.
“He should either shortlist other PBRS candidates for BN’s consideration or we can lend him a suitable candidate.”
Former Pensiangan MP Bernard Marmat, who recently quit PBRS and joined PBS, is reportedly eyeing the seat in the event of a by-election.
The idea of a BN component party ‘lending’ a candidate to another component party has not been practised in Sabah but is rampant in neighbouring Sarawak, where Parti Rakyat Sarawak has complained that many of its seats had been ‘pinched’ over the years by other BN component parties.
Sabah People’s Progressive Party and PKR - in which Jeffrey Gimpoi Kitingan (left) is a senior leader - are eyeing the seat as well.However, the independent Sapp may yet give way “on moral grounds” to opposition PKR whose candidate, Danny Anthony Andipai, had successfully disputed the election results in court.
The appeal against the ruling will reportedly be heard early next month, although the court can delay the verdict for six months from the time the appeal is filed.
Once the court delivers its verdict, a by-election must be called within 60 days. However, this is unlikely to happen in the March-April period because Umno faces polls and a transition in leadership.
View Comments0