For, they too wish to establish a new group going by the name of United Sabah Alliance (USA) or Gabungan Sabah, a gathering of like-minded opposition parties and NGOs in the state that might later be turned into political entities.
This move has been confirmed by former chief minister Yong Teck Lee who told Theantdaily that Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) headed by him as president, is one of two opposition parties in the new grouping.
The other is the State Reform Party (STAR) Sabah chapter, headed by Bingkor state assemblyman Dr Jeffrey Kitingan who had made a name for himself by championing the rights and safeguards of Sabah and Sarawak.
According to Yong, this new and loosely knit opposition group includes Angkatan Perpaduan Sabah (APS) and Sabah People’s Rights Movement (Saprim) and several other NGOs that are “like-minded” in political thinking on matters related to Sabah rights and natives.
“The chief platform of USA is to strive for full autonomy for Sabah and the 20 Points. Keys issues are native customary rights, land reforms and Sabah identity cards,” said Yong, who served the state as chief minister for two years (1996-98) under the CM rotation system that was in force at that time.
Both SAPP and STAR had a poor showing during the last general election (GE13) in 2013, mainly due to their failure to form an effective opposition front against ruling BN components headed by Sabah Umno.
STAR, putting up a total of 47 candidates out of 60 for the state in GE13, won only the Bingkor seat; while all the 41 candidates from SAPP were wiped out, including two of its incumbents.
Two SAPP state assemblymen had earlier withdrawn from the party and joined Gerakan after it quit the BN coalition in September 2008.
Asked about this, Yong said that although SAPP and STAR fared badly in the last elections, “Our struggle remains relevant and valid. GE13 was about whether to change the government. At the time, the combined forces of Pakatan Rakyat (opposition) and the BN machinery were very strong. Local Sabah parties were not able to bring forth the key relevant issues.”
He believes the situation has changed. “In a mainly Chinese and to some extent, non-Muslim swing, almost all non-Muslim constituencies were won by the combined Pakatan opposition (in GE13). But that is over. As people now say, Pakatan is dead and buried.”
As for the Barisan Nasional, Yong, branded as “Young Turk Lee” during hisheyday in politics in the second half of 1990s, says that many new issues have now surfaced, principally those related to the Goods and Services Tax (GST), and the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) controversy, etc.
“With the breakup of PR, the new grouping GHB seems to be still finding its way around. For example, PKR wants to maintain ties with PAS whereas DAP prefers the PAS splinter group. We have to give them more time to sort themselves out first.”
He said he and his party believe that other Sabah parties could work with opposition parties in Malaya, including the new GHB, “if they genuinely share our core ideology of Sabah rights and full autonomy”.
At the same time, he takes note of the fact that issues of particular interest to the Borneo states “have emerged at the fore front”, adding that “even Malaya has begun to pay attention to Sabah and Sarawak issues”.
He said a case in point was Prime Minister Najib Razak conceding to grant autonomy to Sabah and Sarawak recently.
“People can also see the rise of regional parties in other parts of the world, especially Scotland which wiped out giant national parties like Labour, Conservative and Liberal in Scotland. As a result, London has to concede further autonomy to Scotland. Autonomy and self-determination have become mainstream issues in the Philippines and Indonesia too.”
As for Malaysia, Yong points out that the mood is changing and “we have to keep at it so that we can achieve full autonomy.”
Commenting on the various names mentioned by Lim Kit Siang of DAP as “possible candidates” to become Malaysia's next prime minister, Yong said that “Kit Siang has a shopping list for prime minister.”
“His preference is Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. But he is willing to get anyone to be PM as long as that new PM will bring DAP into the federal government.”
Yong said no date has been fixed for the official launching of the proposed United Sabah Alliance. But “some joint activities” for the two parties and the NGOs in the group have been planned for Aug 31 and Sept 16.
Jeffrey Kitingan, the other key politician behind this USA move, is the younger brother of Joseph Pairin Kitingan, a deputy chief minister and president of Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), a BN component.
The younger Kitingan, a former ISA detainee, was a former vice-president of PKR. He also founded the United Borneo Alliance in 2010. - The AntDaily
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