Ex-Sabah CM ‘disgusted' with parties' fixation on seats instead of issues
Former Sabah chief minister Yong Teck Lee said many Sabahans had no idea about the issues that political parties would champion and fight for if elected. (Facebook pic)
PETALING JAYA : Former Sabah chief minister Yong Teck Lee has urged political parties to talk about the issues they want to champion instead of the number of seats they want to contest in the upcoming state election.
The Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president said he was disgusted with reports of parties scrambling for seats, including entities from Peninsular Malaysia, The Borneo Post reported.
Yong said Sabahans want to know what the political parties were championing and would fight for if elected to form the next Sabah government.
'So far, Sabahans like myself have no idea what some political parties and leaders are fighting for. They only talk about seats, seats and more seats.
'How about talking about the issues for this coming Sabah election?' he was quoted as saying.
Yong took aim at Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) in particular, questioning whether the two coalitions would push for Sabah and Sarawak to be allocated 35% of parliamentary seats in the country and other issues as stipulated under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
'Everyone, including Malayan parties, have joined the bandwagon of championing MA63 after the 2008 general election when BN for the first time lost its two-thirds parliamentary majority,' he added.
SAPP is a component of ruling state coalition Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), led by Hajiji Noor.
GRS and PH are currently allies in Hajiji's state administration while BN sits in the opposition. However, PH and BN have announced an alliance for the state polls, while talks are ongoing to include GRS in the pact.
On Sunday, PKR deputy president Nurul Izzah Anwar expressed hope that her party would be able to contest a minimum of 13 seats in the upcoming Sabah election.
The following day, Sabah DAP deputy chief Chan Foong Hin said the state chapter was eyeing at least 10 seats in the state polls. Sabah Umno had said it hoped to contest 40 seats in the 17th state election.
SAPP's fellow GRS component Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku said today that the party was looking to contest 15 seats, while Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah vice-president Masiung Banah said GRS was eyeing 52 seats at least.
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