SAPP Supreme Council declares that SAPP is no longer a member of the Barisan Nasional
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
The BN has lost its "BN spirit". It was not that the people who did not want the BN, it was the BN who abandoned the people. In spite of repeated appeals from some BN members to other BN leaders to be more sensitive to the peoples' feelings, these leaders continue to treat the people with contempt. Perhaps, after 50 years of uninterrupted government, some BN leaders have got it in their heads that they have a divine right to rule.
http://sapphq.blogspot.com/
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SAPP pulls out of BN
DAILY EXPRESS NEWS
Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) pulled out from the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, Wednesday, three months after declaring the party's loss of confidence in the Prime Minister's leadership.
The announcement by party President Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee at a packed Press conference after chairing a SAPP Supreme Council special meeting at its headquarters in Bornion, Foh Sang, was followed by the mass resignation of almost all the party's leaders from their respective government posts.
They were Assistant Finance Minister Melanie Chia who is also SAPP Wanita chief, Deputy President Datuk Eric Majimbun who was appointed Deputy Chairman of Sabah Economic Development Corporation (Sedco) as well as those holding the post of councillors and people's development leaders, among others.
Melanie and Eric said they would be tendering their resignations Thursday.
However, two others - Deputy President Datuk Raymond Tan who is a Deputy Chief Minister-cum-Infrastructure Development Minister and a Vice President, Jimmy Wong, who is Political Secretary to the Chief Minister, have yet to announce their decision.
Another elected representative, Elopura Assemblyman Au Kam Wah who is also SAPP Youth chief, did not attend the meeting but sent a message to Yong stating that "he will not go along with the party's decision to quit BN".
"He did not say he is resigning from the party. I also did not say that he has resigned but he is only not going along with the party's decision," said Yong when asked on Au's position.
Tan, who spoke to reporters after walking out of the meeting at about 4.15pm, made it clear that he had objected to the move and would be deciding on his position in the party as well as the State Government in 24 hours. (See separate story).
Yong said the question of whether the decision was made unanimously did not arise because "the Supreme Council made the decision and it is a valid decision".
He said of the 35 Supreme Council members, three were absent including Au. "And out of the 32 present, two objected (Tan and Wong). They have requested that their names be made public (objection to the move) although we don't normally reveal this," he said. Yong said SAPP would not be joining the opposition Pakatan Rakyat but that its elected representatives in Parliament and the State Legislative Assembly would perform their role as a "quality opposition".
"SAPP will be a quality opposition until we are returned as government," he said to cheers and thumping of the table.
Asked if SAPP would consider if it were offered to join Pakatan, Yong said they would be in communication with each other but did not elaborate.
Asked whether SAPP would change its mind and return to the coalition should Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi step down, he said:
"Kalau kapal sudah mau tenggelam, kapten mau lompat, sama juga (it makes no difference if the captain wants to abandon ship when the ship is already sinking)".
"Some people say it's too fast, some people say it's too long (to make the decision) but we look at the situation, and the time has come to remove all doubts.
"In the last few months, (we have been deliberating whether) we should be in or out. The BN has not made any decision to expel us, so after a long period of two months, may be we see the time has come," he said.
"(DAP veteran) Lim Kit Siang has come up with a new terminology which is 'Pakatan plus', but we in Sabah hope to have a 'SAPP plus'," he added.
SAPP, a Chinese-majority party, was registered on Jan. 21, 1994 by a group led Yong himself following his resignation from Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) after a fallout with PBS President Datuk Seri Joseph Pairin Kitingan.
Reading a prepared statement, Yong said "The BN has lost its BN spirit". It was not that the people did not want the BN, it was the BN who abandoned the people. In spite of repeated appeals from some BN members to other BN leaders to be more sensitive to the peoples' feelings, these leaders continue to treat the people with contempt.
"Perhaps, after 50 years of uninterrupted government, some BN leaders have got it in their heads that they have a divine right to rule."
He said SAPP was now free from the BN and shall, henceforth, use this freedom to pursue its autonomous political path to fulfil the party's mission to establish a trustworthy government and a progressive, just and harmonious society.
"We now have the master key to our own house. We shall build a brighter future for our people and the generations to come."
According to him, on March 8 (general elections), the people had spoken out loud and clear, resulting in the BN paying a heavy price but the BN refused to learn.
He added that the ruthless increase in fuel prices on June 4 and the failure to tackle inflation and economic slowdown had dealt a severe blow to ordinary people.
"The recent blatant abuse of the ISA against an innocent journalist, an MP and a blogger only confirms that the BN leadership has not learned from their mistakes.
"The shameful Taiwan trip by 49 BN MPs and the instigation of racial animosities have aggravated the collapse of confidence among the people and leaders, not only on the Prime Minister but the BN as well.
"The Prime Minister's Budget 2009 was totally uninspiring and has already been discredited even before it was debated in Parliament. The BN has lost its moral authority to rule. Numerical majority in Parliament means little if the people no longer respect you," he said.
Yong also said the resignation of Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Zaid Ibrahim only confirms what many lawyers already knewÉthat the Prime Minister and his government never had the intention to reform the judiciary.
"Zaid's exposure about 'the BN government being paralysed by internal strife and divisions' has also been known to many people in the BN. In many other countries, such paralysis of government will lead to fresh general elections," he said, adding SAPP has nothing personal against the PM and his family.
"None of the matters raised by SAPP concern his person, his family, son, daughter, son-in-law or businesses. SAPP is only concerned about the issues affecting the country such as the need for good governance, the dangers of racial polarisation and injustice of economic imbalances to be tackled effectively," he said.
Yong stressed that SAPP had only wanted to see that the legitimate rights of Sabah and the unfairness suffered by Malaysians in Sabah be given due attention with results.
"The BN must realise that, if not for Sabah and Sarawak, BN would be in the opposition today. But instead of sincerely working to solve the issues raised by SAPP, the BN has chosen to embark on a course of action to destroy SAPP," he said.
He said the SAPP Supreme Council condemned the attempts of BN operatives to destroy SAPP through divide and rule tactics and by abusing the economic resources of the BN State and Federal governments aimed at instigating SAPP members and leaders to destroy SAPP.
As a matter of fact, he said by deliberately excluding SAPP from four consecutive meetings of the Dewan Tertinggi (Supreme Council) and two meetings of the Management Committee ever since the announcement of no confidence in PM on June 18, the BN has effectively terminated the membership of SAPP.
"I call on our members to be brave. Do not despair. Remember that one of our party culture's seven values is Resilience. From the day we joined the party, we knew that things can get very rough for us.
"Yes, together we shall overcome this difficult period because the people are with us. With strong encouragement and support, SAPP will succeed in our struggle," he said.
Yong said SAPP would also be embarking on a series of political activities two weeks after Hari Raya during which a "road map to victory in future elections" would be planned.
"We shall elaborate how we plan to achieve the eight-points declaration, namely good governance and non-racial politics, autonomy for Sabah, 20 per cent oil royalties, return of Labuan, review of unfair laws and detrimental departments, Borneonisation of the federal civil service, solution to the illegal immigrants issue, and redress economic and social imbalances," he said.
http://dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=59918
17/9/2008
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Yeah....This is what sabahan people looking for...Sure that SAPP lose their position in government but one thing that is very important that SAPP gain Sabahan support more that he could imagine...People has no doubt over SAPP anymore for SAPP really stand for sabahan. I'm proud with you Datuk Yong Teck Lee. You are my leader...You earn my highest respect in all aspect... Keep it on Datuk....We stand by your side.