LDP furious at peninsula Gerakan 'backdoor' party

Charlie Rudai


State BN coalition partners are upset with peninsula-based Gerakan's maneuvering to gain a foothold in Sabah.

KOTA KINABALU: An audacious move by non-Sabah based party Gerakan to muscle its way into state politics has been rebuffed by fellow Barisan Nasional (BN) component, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

Gerakan, the Penang-based party which has already got a foot in the door of state politics through defections from Sabah-based parties is now demanding they be given constituencies in the state that were previously under Sabah-based BN component parties.

LDP which has borne the brunt of the entry of Gerakan in state politics is furious that the peninsula-based party, which has gained Sabah Cabinet representation through the back door, has become presumptuous enough to believe that it has support in the state.

LDP leaders have been outspoken about the gradual takeover of state affairs by peninsula-based parties who they claim have used national influence to muscle their way into state politics and even engineer the migration of assemblymen from other BN parties.

LDP publicity chief Albert Kok said by right the three assemblymen in Sabah Gerakan, namely Peter Pang (Karamunting), Raymond Tan (Tanjung Papat) and Au Kam Wah (Elopura) “should resign before even asking for seats if they are men of principle”.

“Gerakan did not even contest in the state election in 2008 and their three assemblymen are now under different tickets. They cannot even understand this basic Barisan Nasional spirit and now they unashamedly asked for the seats to be given.

“Gerakan should put their house in order first and look at themselves before making such ridiculous demands,” he said.

Pang won his seat through LDP while Tan and Au won theirs through the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) when it was still in the BN coalition in the previous election.

The trio left their parties after falling out with their respective leadership and Gerakan offered them a safe haven with the blessings of Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman who many see as having engineered the fragmenting of Sabah-based BN parties.

LDP remains adamant that the Karamunting seat being held by Pang, a former LDP vice president, must be returned to the party in the next general election.

However, other BN component parties have also expressed interest in the seats held by SAPP which moved to the opposition almost three years ago. LDP has laid claim on all SAPP seats.