This is 1Malaysia not 1Umno, LDP tells Ghapur
By Charlie Rudai, Free Malaysia Today
KOTA KINABALU: Squabbling Sabah Barisan Nasional component parties are again on the warpath.
This time its been sparked by Umno’s public demand for the Merotai state seat currently being held by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), a fellow BN component party.
The LDP leadership views the demand as an unseemly display of complete disrespect to the spirit of comradeship in the coalition.
After several days of silence over the Peninsular-based party’s demand, LDP’s Albert Kok said the party felt that the demand made through Umno’s Kalabakan division was damaging the coalition.
“I also totally disagree that the Merotai seat was on loan to LDP from Umno because as under the BN spirit the seats are distributed equally to all the component parties irrespective of its voter make-up,” he said.
Kok, who is also the private secretary to the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department VK Liew, said that in many areas in the country, compromise had been reached to allow even one minority party to contest.
He pointed out that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had also made it clear that “we must work as a team and help out one another even if that area has a Malay majority”.
According to him, Hulu Selangor was one of the most recent and best examples of how a Malay-majority constituency was given to MIC for the BN.
He said Umno and all the component parties had worked hard to ensure victory for the BN in the recent Hulu Selangor by-election.
Hidden agenda
Kok said the demand by Umno Kalabakan chief Ghapur Salleh, who claimed that 191 branches want the Merotai seat to be returned to Umno in the next general election, would be setting a dangerous precedent.
“If this happens it means that in future they can simply disregard other component parties and simply resolve to do something that is against the interest of BN as a whole.
“If they can do (this) to Merotai, what is stopping them to do the same in other areas? It also reflects badly on the state BN leadership for its failure to discipline their members,” he said.
“It is totally contradicting to the Prime Minister and BN concept of 1Malaysia … this is not 1Umno,” he said.
Kok said LDP is the most senior BN party in Sabah but it has also been continuously victimised.
“This is extremely unfair considering we have been loyal and dedicated to the struggle of BN since 1989.
“We were one of the few parties who helped Umno when it set foot in Sabah in the early 1990s. We certainly do not deserve to be mistreated by a certain Umno state leaders who are out there to discredit and victimise us to satisfy their greed and fulfill their hidden agenda,” he said.
