Defections give PR urgency to court SAPP
Following its defeat in the Hulu Selangor by-election, PR is left with 77 seats (including a lone Parti Sosialis Malaysia MP as an ally) in the 222-seat House. Excluding the Sibu parliamentary seat, BN currently has 137 seats and needs only another 11 seats to regain its two-thirds majority.
Written by Yong Min Wei, The Edge
The Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition, weakened by a recent spate of defections among its lawmakers, is speeding up plans to admit the independent Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) into its fold.
A high-ranking PR source said the initial plan was to have SAPP join the opposition pact before the next general election but the recent loss of four PKR MPs has led PR leaders to accelerate the move.
He said that since SAPP’s objective was to cooperate with PR to topple the Barisan Nasional (BN), it would be “desirable” for the Sabah party to be part of the opposition pact by the next Dewan Rakyat sitting in June.
“After several defections, we (PR) are left with barely one-third of the MPs in the Dewan Rakyat. This means that all PR MPs must be present to deny BN a two-thirds majority should constitutional amendments be put to vote,” the source told The Edge Financial Daily.
Following its defeat in the Hulu Selangor by-election, PR is left with 77 seats (including a lone Parti Sosialis Malaysia MP as an ally) in the 222-seat House. Excluding the Sibu parliamentary seat, BN currently has 137 seats and needs only another 11 seats to regain its two-thirds majority.
According to the source, PR would have 79 seats if SAPP’s two MPs — Datuk Eric Majimbun (Sepanggar) and Datuk Dr Chua Soon Bui (Tawau) — would tilt their support in favour of the opposition. He said PR leaders were expected to hold formal discussions soon with leaders of the Sabah party that withdrew from BN in September 2008.
“Our support in the House will not be too volatile if we have SAPP with us. Moreover, they have not thrown their support behind BN on several bills,” he added.
He pointed out that SAPP’s earlier membership into PR would enable “advance preparation” and seat allocation for polls in Sabah which may or may not coincide with the next general election. He noted that SAPP recently challenged BN to dissolve the state assembly to settle problems such as illegal immigrants, water and imbalanced development.
The source said that SAPP’s call to review the 20-point agreement that led to the formation of Malaysia in 1963 was “more possible” to be undertaken under a PR administration than under BN. In view of this, PR was looking forward to the Sabah party becoming part of its “reform agenda” and anti-GST (goods and services tax) policy.
“We know BN will try to leverage on the seven independent MPs in the House at the next sitting. We have to move fast and seal a deal with SAPP,” the source said, optimistic that the deal could be sealed before year-end.
Last month, the Sarawak National Party (Snap) became the fourth member of PR, which controls the state governments of Penang, Selangor, Kelantan and Kedah.
When contacted, PKR strategy director Tian Chua said the opposition pact had never ruled out the possibility of SAPP joining its fold. He said that their two federal lawmakers had been friendly to the PR cause.
“Till now, we have not had any formal discussion on SAPP becoming a member of PR. Now, it looks like we have to make the first move, rather than wait,” said Chua, the MP for Batu.
Chua said PR was willing to cooperate with SAPP and that it was a matter of time before a formal agreement was inked as the opposition pact and SAPP had common goals for the next general election.
“We had a cordial discussion with SAPP leaders previously but it touched on other matters,” said Chua. It would be best to discuss SAPP’s entry into PR now instead of at the last minute should snap polls be called, he said.
DAP deputy chairman Dr Tan Seng Giaw said the political developments in Sabah and Sarawak took place on a “different wavelength” from that of the peninsula. He said that it would “take time” for PR to comprehend any East Malaysian political party’s ideals and aspirations before accepting it into its fold.
“PR welcomes political parties that support our cause so long as they have no selfish need,” said the seven-term Kepong MP.
Tan said that DAP had never been against SAPP joining PR but stressed that any party that joined the opposition pact could not have high expectations overnight.
In March, SAPP ticked off DAP’s Kota Kinabalu MP Hiew King Cheu for telling SAPP and its president Datuk Yong Teck Lee that the party would be considered “an enemy” if it does not join PR.
