“If as Pakatan Rakyat leader Datuk Seri Anwar (Ibrahim) said (that) SAPP is contesting too many seats, it is very simple, just tell me how many we should contest (in) state and or parliament,” he said.
Yong, who was met at a forum on the ‘Hudud’ law organised by the Gerakan Belia Bersatu Malaysia (GBBM) Sabah where he was one of the speakerS, said this when asked to comment on Anwar’s statement about SAPP’s seats request.
Anwar had said that SAPP must relook at its demand for seats it wants to contest in the 13th general election.
“If SAPP refuses to budge from its demand, then it is difficult for us to continue with negotiations that are being done in the spirit of cooperation,” he said when officiating the launching of Pertubuhan Pakatan Perubahan Sabah (PPPS) here last month.
Yong yesterday pointed out that the negotiations on seats in Sabah were done since 2009 when Pakatan Rakyat Sabah only comprised PKR, PAS and DAP.
He disclosed that during a meeting in June 2009 between him, SAPP deputy president Datuk Eric Majimbun and the then PKR Sabah liaison chairman Azmin Ali, they spoke about the principle involved in the seats distribution, which is autonomy.
“If we talk about which party is strong or not strong, everybody will have a subjective opinion. So the principle we use is autonomy. At that time, STAR had yet to be formed as Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan was still in PKR.
“The discussion has been ongoing from June 2009 and (under the principle of autonomy as a) state party, it means SAPP will contest in more state seats and Pakatan in more parliament seats. On that basis, we used Sandakan as a starting point whereby SAPP will defend only Tanjung Papat and Elopura while Pakatan will take the Parliament seats, including the state seat of Karamunting.
“SAPP will also be contesting in one other Bumiputera majority seat in Sandakan. This is a very good formula accepted by many people on that kind of basis to take the discussion further,” he said.
Yong added that the latest development with the negotiations is that there will be another round of discussion with PKR’s national vice president Tian Chua today (Monday) and that SAPP had asked DAP and PKR for their opinion on how many seats they think SAPP should contest in.
“We have come to a point where we have asked Azmin and Thamrin (PKR state chairman), we have told you our stand and our principle in the last few years, now if as Anwar said, SAPP is contesting too many seats, it is very simple, just tell me how many we should contest (in) state and or parliament?” he stressed.
According to Yong, he has spoken to all Pakatan Rakyat Sabah components, including the latest inclusions, Angkatan Perubahan Sabah (APS) and Pertubuhan Pakatan Perubahan Sabah (PPPS) and calculated that their total combined requests for state seats was 128.
“According to my calculations, PKR, DAP, PAS, plus APS and PPPS, the combined requests for these entities totaled 128 state seats. They can bring it down to less than 100, this is my calculations, having talked to all of them.
“This number is even before STAR (request) so they will have to reduce the number too. SAPP on the principle of autonomy says (it) shall contest a majority of the state seats to support Pakatan to go to Putrajaya, so they will be winning more Parliament seats while we will have less parliament seats.
“If they think it is not agreeable to them (and) it is so close to the election, I believe people also expect Anwar especially now, to tell us, how many they think we should contest, state and parliament,” he stressed.
On the possibility of SAPP working with Sabah STAR should it become untenable to accept Pakatan Rakyat’s proposal on the seats division, Yong said that SAPP already had several rounds of discussion with STAR after Dr Jeffrey left PKR.
The discussions were along two lines, first on policies, their Borneo Agenda and SAPP’s eight point declaration and number two on the seats sharing.
“The last round was last month, we are due to meet with Dr Jeffrey again towards the end of this month,” he said.
He also was of the opinion that APS president Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred Bumburing was not willing to negotiate with Sabah STAR and not the other way round.
“I think Datuk Wilfred Bumburing does not want to negotiate with STAR and I think that would be a mistake because come what may, STAR does have some significant influence in some areas,” he said.
He was of the opinion that there are personalities in PKR who do not want to see STAR contest at all in the election.
“But in our assessment, STAR does have some influence in some areas that in a multi-cornered fight STAR will emerge as the strongest opposition party. Therefore, we should support STAR in the areas which we believe STAR has the edge over BN compared to SAPP or Pakatan parties.
“Some people may misunderstand our communication with both STAR and PKR as trying to deal with both sides. No, we are trying to build a consensus between Pakatan parties for a combined joint opposition.
“Our efforts, (if) still not too late, are to get a combined opposition for a one-to-one contest against Barisan Nasional (BN). When Anwar in April talked about majority to state parties, at the time there were only SAPP and STAR. We don’t know whether he was referring to incoming Lajim and Bumburing.
“But even if he were … even if Anwar meant in April that majority of the state seats will be contested by state parties to include APS and PPPS, we can live with that,” he said.
by Nancy Lai
Which to choose: PR, STAR or SAPP?
ReplyDeletePemimpin2 parti ni agak meragukan.
DeleteBiarlah rakyat sendiri menentukannya.
DeleteSAPP seolah tidak diterima oleh rakyat di Sabah.
DeleteKedua-dua pemimpin parti pembangkang ini tidak boleh di percayai.
DeleteWhilst the local opposition parties support PAKATAN RAKYAT’s move to take over Putrajaya, the latter must reciprocate and respect the former’s autonomy in every way
ReplyDeleteOf late, it has become obvious that PAKATAN RAKYAT (meaning PKR and particularly DAP) is bullying SAPP into a tight corner; by the way, no one seems to take STAR seriously
DeleteIf a consensus cannot be reached, then PAKATAN RAKYAT and SAPP should jointly contest every Parlimentary plus State seats against each other. If they cannot agree and compromise, they should fight it out – fair and square. No point to blame one or the other for there is no other way around the impasse.
DeleteIf you are wise, vote only for SAPP but subject to the following conditions:-
Deletea) Do not vote for a candidate if he or she has any social, political, economical, family, or criminal baggage because such person’s integrity and credibility can be bought
b) Do not vote for any past or present incumbents if they have not done anything tangible for the people that is worthy of praise;
Deletec) Do not vote for a candidate who has a speech and language problem because such a person is usually stupid;
Deleted) Do not vote for a candidate who thinks he or she knows everything and yet only parrot what was heard;
Deletee) Vote for a candidate who is energetic and highly educated because only such candidates are able and willing to walk the extra mile for their constituents
DeleteIf you could not find any or all of the above qualities in a SAPP candidate but on the other hand a STAR candidate possesses those details, then, by all means, vote for the 'STAR' candidate instead.
DeleteIf neither SAPP nor STAR candidates have those qualities, I will stay home and not even bother to cast my vote.
DeleteSTAR tiada hasil perjuangan yang boleh dinilai, rakyat kurang berkeyakinan dengannya.
DeleteLet see whether PKR can gain Putrajaya?
DeleteSAPP has accused DAP of trying to sabotage its bid to work with the Pakatan Rakyat coalition to ensure the opposition succeeds in toppling the Barisan Nasional government.
ReplyDeleteA day after DAP Youth leader and the party’s central committee member Junz Wong launched a scathing attack on the local opposition party and accused it of splitting the opposition vote, SAPP’s information chief Chong Pit Fah declared that they would not be side-tracked by those bent on playing coalition politics.
ReplyDeleteSAPP leaders were curious if the DAP Youth leader’s statement that SAPP had “evil intentions” and was out to split the opposition vote represented the coalition’s feelings, and that of DAP or merely his own opinion.
ReplyDeleteWong justified his attack by claiming that Sabah DAP had been under constant attack by SAPP ever since his party had announced that it would be contesting the Sandakan parliamentary seat and the Elopura, Tanjung Papat and Karamunting state seats in the coming general election.
ReplyDeleteChong described Wong’s statement as politically immature as well as ”arrogant and presumptuous” and had confused opposition supporters especially as negotiations were on-going.
ReplyDeleteSAPP’s intention to contest the Sandakan constituencies such as Tanjung Papat and Elopura which was lost to Gerakan after a series of defections has been well known and Chong said the DAP leader was being disingenuous by bringing it up to drive a wedge between SAPP and the coalition.
ReplyDeleteWong’s outburst also cast doubt on whether its local leaders would toe the line if Pakatan leaders particularly Anwar and senior DAP leaders came to an agreement with SAPP on seat sharing.
ReplyDeleteThe DAP leader categorically stated that whatever Anwar, who is also Pakatan component PKR leader, and SAPP agreed to was strictly between them and had nothing to do with the other coalition members.
ReplyDelete“SAPP is not part of Pakatan. SAPP has clarified that they will work with Anwar for possible seat negotiation, which means they will negotiate for seats agreed upon for PKR only, not PAS and certainly not DAP,” Wong said in his statement.
ReplyDeleteSAPP benar ikhlas untuk kerjasama dengan PKR?
DeleteBetul kah mereka boleh bekerjasama, sedangkan agenda masing-masing berlainan. Kita tunggu sahaja perebutan kerusi oleh pembangkang nanti.
Delete“If SAPP thinks (party president) Yong Teck Lee can deal with Pakatan the way SAPP used to deal with BN, then Yong is so wrong! Pakatan is not BN!” he said.
ReplyDeleteHe said Yong was mistaken if he “thinks he can bypass DAP or PAS by going straight to Anwar to negotiate for DAP seats.
ReplyDeleteSAPP vs PKR.
ReplyDeleteThey should find way to cooperate and work as a team to strike better position.
DeleteMasing-masing ada misi untuk dicapai, bukan mudah untuk bekerjasama.
DeleteI think they will never reach a consensus.
ReplyDeleteMemang susah ada kata putus.
ReplyDeleteEven Star thinks that SAPP is not going to have a pact with PR.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it will happen.
ReplyDeleteNot sure how many seats.
ReplyDeleteHoping they can deal if a better seats allocation.
DeletePembahagian kerusi sememangnya amat sukar.
ReplyDeleteBukan mudah untuk diterima semua golongan. Pengagihan kerusi adalah challenge yang besar sebenarnya.
DeleteAnwar is simply making an annoying request.
ReplyDeleteAnd now he is sitting on fire.
ReplyDeleteServe him right.
ReplyDeleteCarilah formula yang terbaik jika benar ikhlas untuk bekerjasama.
ReplyDeletePembahagian kerusi pun boleh jadi besar oleh mereka.
ReplyDeletePresiden Parti Maju Sabah (SAPP), Datuk Yong Teck Lee berkata parti itu akan bertanding dalam jumlah kerusi yang besar bagi Dewan Undangan Negeri Sabah pada Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13 nanti.
ReplyDeleteRundingan kerusi di pihak pembangkang di Sabah berkemungkinan tidak akan tercapai dengan Pakatan Rakyat dan parti-parti tempatan negeri itu menuju ke arah perebutan antara satu sama lain yang mana pilihan raya umum mungkin akan diadakan pada Jun ini.
ReplyDeletesetiap pemimpin menunjukkan kedua-dua belah pihak tidak bersedia beralah dari permintaan mereka walaupun semua pihak menegaskan bahawa 'pintu rundingan sentiasa terbuka'.
ReplyDeleteUntuk parti-parti pembangkang tempatan iaitu Parti Progresif Sabah (SAPP) dan Parti Reformasi Negeri (STAR), yang masing-masing diketuai pemimpin politik Datuk Yong Teck Lee dan Datuk Jeffrey Kitingan, kerjasama yang mungkin wujud jika mereka dibenarkan bertanding di 60 kerusi negeri di Sabah.
ReplyDeleteTetapi bagi Pakatan Rakyat yang berasal dari Semenanjung Malaysia, sebahagian besarnya DAP, semua pihak sepatutnya terlebih dahulu menyatakan kesanggupan untuk memberikan komitmen kepada pembangkang pusat sebelum berdepan Barisan Nasional (BN).
ReplyDeleteMereka percaya ini akan memperkukuhkan pembangkang di Sabah dan di peringkat persekutuan serta membantu menjatuhkan pemerintah sedia ada di Putrajaya.
ReplyDeletepemimpin SAPP berkata mereka bersedia membantu Pakatan Rakyat dalam menawan Putrajaya tetapi mahu perjanjian yang membenarkan mereka membentuk kerajaan negeri Sabah dengan bertanding lebih separuh kerusi daripada 60 kerusi yang disediakan.
ReplyDeletePemimpin-pemimpin itu bersetuju bahawa semua parti pembangkang di Sabah perlu bekerjasama untuk memastikan pertandingan satu lawan satu di semua 60 kerusi negeri dan 25 kerusi Parlimen bagi mengelakkan berlaku pecah undi.
ReplyDeleteBagi SAPP, formulanya mudah, Pakatan Rakyat bertanding dua pertiga daripada 25 kerusi Parlimen manakala SAPP dua pertiga kerusi negeri. Ini, menurut mereka merupakan formula menang-menang yang membolehkan semua pihak mencapai matlamat untuk menjatuhkan BN.
ReplyDeleteKata seorang pemimpin SAPP: “Paling utama, Pakatan tidak mahu bergabung. Mereka langsung tidak boleh bersetuju antara satu sama lain tentang kerusi mereka mahu bertanding, bagaimana mereka boleh berunding dengan kami?”
ReplyDelete