Rumble in BN, LDP vs UMNO?

(Sabahkini) TANJUNG Kapor Assemblyman, Teo Chee Kang is upset and furious that eight of the local community leaders including four from Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in his constituency have been served with service termination letters without his knowledge and consultation.

Teo who is also the LDP Secretary-General said he was shocked to have been by-passed in this matter since it has always been the condition for appointment for all positions like the native chief representatives (WKAN), village heads, Kapitan Cina and even district chief in any constituency that the respective assemblymen needs to sign the application form.

Speaking to reporters at the LDP headquarters in Sadong Jaya, Karamunsing near here, he said the eight people who office had been terminated received letters from the Ministry of Local Government and Housing giving them one month notice from June 1 to 31.

This means by July 1 their position would be terminated, he said.

According to him, he was furious and upset not so much because he was by-pass in this whole process but because these eight people are grassroots leaders who are all Barisan Nasional (BN) loyalists.

“Some of them have been in the BN even since Berjaya times and they have given me the full support in the March 2008 general election and contributed to the success of BN in Tanjung Kapor,” he said, adding that out of sudden they received the letter that also did not state the reason for the termination.

Teo said that he manage to gather information that this ‘exercise’ was allegedly started by present Kudat District Chief Haji Harun Bidin who was appointed to the position prior to the General Election in January 2008.

He alleged that during the March 2008 General Election, Haji Harun had campaigned against BN candidate in Tanjung Kapor using his position as the district chief to have ‘ceramah’ with the village heads, native chies and so on claiming that he was instructed by big names to do so.

“He had also campaigned openly for the independent candidate who contested under Kelapa Sawit symbol in Kudat,” said Teo.

“I’m not only saying this for the sake of saying as we have concrete evidence but at this stage I would not want to disclose the evidence,” he said.

Teo said the four LDP members who had their office terminated are natives who are Muslim and Rungus.

“We have also been informed that through Haji Harun another two new village heads have been appointed without my knowledge in place of other village heads who passed away,” he said.

Teo said that another appointment made without his knowledge was the replacement to the Kapitan Cina post when Lee Oi Thau who was an LDP member passed away.

The post for the Kapitan Cina, however was replaced for the WKAN post that went to the native.

“This means that the quota for Kapitan Cina in Kudat is now reduced by one as originally we have five including the deceased and by right a new Kapitan Cina should be appointed but because of this the quota is now reduced by one,” he said.

Teo said Haji Harun in 2008 was a committee member of the Kudat Umno and currently he is the treasurer of the division.

“I am not saying Umno as the component party is doing this but I am just saying this that there are some individuals in the party who are doing this,” he said.

Teo who is also the Sabah Credit Corporation Chairman said he had reported the matter and furnished the evidence to Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman who is the State BN chief shortly after the election.

“At the same time I have also reported to the BN headquarters in Kuala Lumpur,” he said, adding that during the visit by then Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to Sabah in May 2008, he managed to see him face to face and conveyed the matter to him as the BN Chairman.

“In fact I ask that (Haji Harun) Ketua Daerah (native chief) position to be terminated but until now I have not seen anything,” he said.

Teo said he had given Haji Harun a chance before because after the March 2008 election he (Haji Harun) had spoken to me him that whatever had happened was not against him (Teo) and he told Teo that he wanted to work with him.

“He seemed to be quite sincere so I gave him a chance and I did not pursue further in the spirit of BN.

“Until recently what has happened to my village heads and WKAN, I find this is as a blatant challenge to me as an assemblyman for Tanjung Kapor,” he said.

Towards this end, Teo is making a public statement calling for the termination of Haji Harun’s position as the district chief be terminated and the eight former community leaders to be reinstated and lastly all those new appointments done without his knowledge to be revoked.

“I will not stop until I get what I want and if need be I will go all the way to Kuala Lumpur to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak  as chairman for BN,” he stressed.

He said LDP is actually the most senior component party in Sabah, which was formed in 1989 and admitted to BN in 1991 while Umno came into Sabah only in 1992.

“We have been loyal and in the BN struggle upon our admission to the ruling coalition but why is it that me as an ADUN of LDP also of BN is treated this way?

“Are the YBs in LDP not ADUN in BN?” he asked.

Asked if LDP might quit the BN if his demand was not met, Teo only response was that he would made public through the media all the evidences that are in his possession if the things still did not come his way.