DAP trying to sabotage SAPP intention to work with PR

TAWAU: Member of parliament for Tawau, Datuk Chua Soon Bui, claims that Democratic Action Party (DAP) is trying to sabotage the intention of Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) to cooperate with Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

Chua also questioned DAP national vice chairman Datuk Teng Chang Khim of his real agenda behind his recent accusation against SAPP that it was responsible for bringing in Umno to Sabah.

"It was widely reported in the local Chinese dailies that Teng had made such an accusation during his speech delivered in Tawau recently," she said yesterday.

In an attempt to rebut the issue, Chua described Teng's accusation as baseless and mischievous aimed at assassinating the character of SAPP president Datuk Yong Teck Lee and herself.

"When Umno came to Sabah in 1990 after PBS left the BN coalition, SAPP was not even formed yet at that time. SAPP was only formed four years later in 1994 after Umno gained enhy into Sabah. How could a non-existing party bring Umno into Sabah?" asked Chua who is also SAPP vice president.

Teng who is also Selangor Speaker, should first get his facts on Sabah politics right before making any baseless allegation against the SAPP president and herself, Chua said.

She said Teng should not have made such a wild accusation against SAPP leaders, especially given the fact that two of its current senior state leaders like its State chairman, Jimmy Wong, and its member of parliament for Kota Kinabalu, Hiew King Cheu, were both SAPP founding members, whom he could have easily consulted on the historical and political facts on Sabah.

"It is absolutely regrettable and unbelievable that such a highly-learned and respectable Speaker from a Pakatan Rakyat- ruled state could simply hurl wild accusation against a fellow opposition like SAPP. Or was he actually targeting at a certain senior Pakatan Rakyat leader, but lacked the guts to mount a direct confrontation?" she asked.

She said being such a senior and supposedly intelligent politician, Teng should not have much problem in getting his facts of Sabah politics right, unless he chose to be ignorant in order to achieve his hidden agenda that is probably best known only to himself.

Chua also reminded Teng that SAPP has been sincerely working on a "winning formula" with the PKR leaders to topple the Barisan Nasional (BN) government in the coming 13th general election.

"Our leaders, including our party president Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee, have even declared and reaffirmed our support for Pakatan Rakyat to capture Putrajaya, and supporting Datuk Seri Anwar as the Prime Minister of Malaysia," she pointed out.

She was thus bewildered as to why despite a callfor a ceasefue against SAPP made by DAP national advisor Lim Kit Siang in Kota Kinabalu last October, stressing that their common enemy is BN/Umno, and not SAPP, DAP leaders at national and state levels continued to attack SAPP and its leaders.

She noted that among those DAP leaders who had been relentlessly attacking SAPP and its leaders included its member of parliament for Cheras, Tan Kok Wai, its national publicity chief, Dr Hiew Kuan Yau aka Superman Professor, and its Sabah publicity chief, Chan Foong Khin.

"They are literally sabotaging SAPP's fervent and sincere plan to forge cooperation with Pakatan Rakyat in the coming general election, and this is rather strange and suspicious. We just wonder what's the real motive and agenda behind it?" she said.