SAPP: No three formula offered

Agreement labeled as 'Coffee Shop Talk'

KOTA KINABALU, Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) Assistant Secretary-General Datu Shuaib Bin Datu Mutalib, said it is not true that PKR had offered a three formula to SAPP for BN to take on BN in a straight fight.

"With due respect to former Sabah PKR chairman, Ansari Abdullah, the only formula as presented by PKR's Treasurer General William Leong was for SAPP to withdraw in return for some future arrangements.


"William Leong had claimed to represent Pakatan Rakyat by virtue of the seat being allocated to PKR. The PKR delegation concluded the meeting with SAPP by agreeing to a "friendly contest" against the BN at Batu Sapi and not to attack each other (SAPP and Pakatan). But the agreement with PKR was later labeled as mere "coffee shop talk" by Sabah DAP chairman Dr. Hiew King Chiew.

"We later heard that if PKR did not contest, then DAP would field a candidate. This is the same type of confusion and in-fighting that plagued the Sarawak opposition parties last month. At Batu Sapi, the PKR infighting was infamous for the public boxing match among PKR leaders at the Sandakan airport after Ansari was announced as the PKR candidate.

"As recorded by the media, other than William Leong, the PKR team consisted of the then PKR Vice President, Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan, Sabah Chairman Thamrin Jaini and Christina Liew. Ansari came and left half way. SAPP was represented by Datuk Yong Teck Lee, deputy presidents Haji Amde Sidik and Datuk Liew Teck Chan, Information Chief Chong Pit Fah and myself.

"Ansari said Pakatan Rakyat decided to maintain the "status quo" at Batu Sapi for PKR, but the fact is that there was no PKR candidate at Batu Sapi in the 2008 elections because the PKR candidate at Batu Sapi disappeared before nomination day and the Gum Gum PKR candidate withdrew during the cooling off period. Surely, Ansari knows why.

"As for the June 2009 meeting between the then Sabah PKR chairman Azmin Ali and Datuk Yong in the presence of Datuk Eric Majimbun (SAPP) and Ansari (PKR), it is well known that before and after the meeting, both leaders had issued press statements confirming the "one-to-one" formula fight against BN in the coming general elections. But after that meeting, Azmin was replaced as the Sabah PKR Chairman and Ansari was demoted. So, it a fact that in 2009, SAPP had already started talks with top PKR leaders on a common formula to fight the BN. We should learn from the experiences and plan our fight against BN accordingly.