KOTA KINABALU: Demokrasi Sabah’s (Desah) bid to get all four main political party leaders in the opposition to publicly commit to a “one-to-one” fight in the coming parliamentary election came to nought after Pakatan Rakyat leader Anwar Ibrahim failed to respond to their invitation.
Desah, a Sabah-based political pressure group, was forced to cancel a public forum scheduled for today because of Anwar.
Desah deputy chairman Ronnie Klassen said DAP national adviser Lim Kit Siang had informed them he was unable to join them due to a prior commitments but Anwar had not bothered to respond to their invitation.
He said an official invitation was extended to Lim through DAP Seputeh MP Teresa Kok, during her visit here last month.
A similar invitation was also extended to Anwar during his recent visit to Kota Marudu to talk at the forum.
“We assume he [Anwar] has his reasons; nonetheless, we have not received any confirmation or news from him,” he told reporters here.
Both Lim and Anwar were set to be “key speakers” at the forum aimed chiefly at getting the four key opposition leaders – Anwar, Lim, Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) leader Yong Teck Lee and Jeffrey Kitingan, the chairman of Sabah STAR – to publicly commit to the people’s wish of seeing straight fights with Barisan Nasional in the coming general election.
“It is extremely regretful that Desah has to call off the forum due to circumstances beyond our control.
“But we will continue to play this facilitator role to ensure a one-to-one contest between the opposition and the BN in this coming general election.
“Our role is to ensure that history does not repeat itself like what happened in the last general election when Pakatan went against each other, and benefited BN in the end,” Klassen said.
Meanwhile, Desah chairman Simon Sipaun, who was also present at the press conference, said the absence of the two Pakatan leaders had made the forum redundant.
“We want to see, if possible, DAP and SAPP come to an understanding not to fight against one another for their own interest.
“This forum unfortunately has to be aborted because we want to see all four of them together, especially since they have separately agreed in principle (to have one-to-one fight against BN), but we want them to express it publicly that they are in favour of one-to-one contest.
“My personal feeling is that they are not prepared to publicly announce this,” Sipaun said, adding that he was still hopeful that the opposition leaders would commit themselves to straight fights in the interests of the nation and its people, rather than that of the aspiring candidates.
He advised them to be more cautious and realistic in negotiations for seat allocations, and not to be easily swayed by the persuasion of their grassroots leaders who aspired to be candidates in the election.
Meanwhile, Klassen said Desah would proceed to organise the forum after the opposition parties have reached an agreement on the seats allocations, which he believed is ongoing now.
“Then we may organise this forum again to allow them to make known to the people their stand and who their candidates are,” he said.
Queville To
All political parties wishing to defeat BN and to bring hope to the true Sabahans must work selflessly together on policy issues and strategies, without personal egos and back-stabbing. Desah's efforts is to be applauded. Hey, demand Anwar to show up or the ppl will support someone else be the next PM. Believe me, Sabah and Sarawak hold the trump card in the GE-13!
ReplyDeleteForget them DSAI or Kit siminanjung kamorang urang Sabah mampu main sindiri ba.
DeleteUrang DESAH pon sukup hebat macam Ronnie atau Muthu je!Kalo mau Tan Sri Simon Sipaun bulih ma.
Jangan kamurang urang Malayan pandang rendah DESAH dan Yong Teck Lee atau Gapril Star!
Enough!
Boleh tahu juga tu pada PRU13.
DeleteDapat jugakah 1 Lawan 1 di Sabah ini.
DeleteMungkin perkara ini tidak akan terlaksana kerana kita boleh ambil contoh Jeffrey dan Lajim. Kedua-dua mahukan ketua Menteri Sabah. Jadi mesti persaingan juga patut dilakukan.
Deleteberdasarkan keadaan semasa, memang sukar diorang ni mahu bekerjasama.
DeleteTheir ego only ruins their mission.
DeletePembangkang sengaja manupulasi fakta sejarah Sabah.
ReplyDeleteSepatutnya tidak perlu politikkan fakta-fakta sejarah,bikin heran juga pembangkang ini, ketandusan isu sudah.
Deletetidak payah la Desah bersusah payah menyatukan pembangkang2 di sabah.. mereka bukan budak kecil lagi..
ReplyDeletebiarkan saja la pembangkang dengan sikap tamak mereka.. kalau sudah masing2 mengidam jawatan KM Sabah, apa boleh buat la..
ReplyDeletetunggu dan lihat apakah mereka akan bersatu atau tidak.
DeleteMacamana mau bekerjasama jika semua pemimpin kkatak punya satu cita-cita yang sama, mau jadi KM.
DeleteBersatu pun tiada guna, tetap kalah juga pembangkang.Hidup BN..
DeleteMasing-masing ada agenda untuk dicapai.
Deletekalaupun pembangkang Sabah bersatu, hasilnya tetap macam di Batu Sapi juga tu..
ReplyDeletekalau semua pun gila kuasa memang susah mau bekerjasama. last2 mereka sendiri bergaduh.
DeleteGara2 tamakkan kuasa, SAPP dan Keadilan kalah teruk di Batu Sapi.
DeleteNanti PRU yang akan datang, pembangkang akan kalah teruk juga.
DeleteMay be they need to find a way to co-operate.
Deletenampaknya sukar pembangkang mahu bersatu.
ReplyDeletePambangkang harus mencari jalan untuk kerjasama.
Deletedari dulu lagi pembangkang cakap mahu bekerjasama, tapi sampai sekarang pun tiada apa2.
ReplyDeleteThe alleged attempt by peninsula opposition leaders to teach the BN state government how to manage Sabah, as akin to "trying to teach a duck to swim".
ReplyDeleteLim Kit Siang said that reaching a consensus of among the opposition in Sabah and Sarawak could be hard.
ReplyDeleteLim reiterated that the PR favours a ‘one-to-one’ fight against BN, but whether this can be achieved will largely depend on its negotiation with other opposition parties.
DeletePepecahan parti pembangkang akan mendorong BN terus menang.
ReplyDeleteKami menantikan sama ada pembangkang akan menang lebih banyak kerusi.
ReplyDelete