Umno-BN has lost moral right to rule
The present Umno-BN government is illegitimate and should not be allowed to continue, says STAR chief Jeffrey Kitingan
Queville To, FMT
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah State Reform Party (STAR) believes that ruling Barisan Nasional has lost the moral right to rule as a legitimate government.
Citing disclosures made in the ongoing RCI on illegal immigrants and the issuance of citizenships to foreigners in Sabah, STAR chief Jeffrey Kitingan said “the present government should not be allowed to continue to rule”.
“From the RCI disclosures, we can see that we have been governed by leaders who would not have been elected if not for illegitimate voters. The present Umno-BN government is illegitimate and should not be allowed to continue. It should be replaced by a non-partisan caretaker government.
“Whilst we cannot change what has happened and leave it to the powers that be to untangle the mess that Sabah is in and punish the culprits and their mastermind, we, all Sabahans, can make a difference and determine our own future and our own destiny,” he said.
Jeffrey said people must not leave it to Sabah leaders alone, especially those in the Umno-BN government, to save Sabah from further damage and control by foreigners.
“No government in the world that is patriotic and loves its citizens would do what Umno and the BN government have done to Sabah. It is treason of the highest degree and in past history, many would have been beheaded or hanged for lesser offences,” he said.
Jeffery doubted Sabah BN component parties leaders of PBS, UPKO, LDP would leave BN and stand on the side of Sabah and its people as they do not care for its future.
Solution imperative
He said even if they did care, they cannot do anything about it as they are beholden to their political masters in BN, besides the fact that many of them have files and dossiers on them.
“At best, they will leave it to Umno, their big brother in BN. We cannot expect thieves to catch thieves,” he said.
He said with the general election around the corner, a solution was imperative. “If people leave everything to the RCI, by the time it completes its investigation in six months time, it would be too late.
“Even then there is no guarantee that action will be taken to rectify the grave injustice done to Sabah and legitimate Sabahans, particularly the natives, whether they are KDMs, Bajaus, Suluks, Ubian, Iranun, Kedayan, Bisaya, Rungus, Sungei, Lun Bawang, Sino-natives, Chinese, Indian, Pakistani and the many others.
“Therefore, we the ordinary Sabahans must unite and kick out this illegitimate Umno-BN government,” he said.
He stressed that whoever the next Chief Minister of Sabah is going to be, he must take every action to safeguard the interests of Sabah and Sabahans.
“We regret the view of one of our past Chief Ministers who, by his own admission, failed in his duty in protecting Sabah, when he nonchalantly stated that it was the prerogative of the federal government to grant citizenships,” he said.
Jeffrey said STAR’s stand is that Sabah is a nation by itself and an equal partner in Malaysia, thus the Federal government cannot and should not grant federal citizenships or the right to vote to every Tom, Dick and Harry, regardless of their nationality and religious background.
“We should only award citizenships to qualified people who can contribute to the country. In granting citizenships, it is by way of operation of law or by naturalisation. Granting of citizenships to children of citizens is by way of law. Giving MyKads based on fraudulent declaration of place of birth in Sabah is not naturalisation. It is fraud,” he said.
‘Malaya is not Malaysia’
He also censured former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohammed for defending the granting of citizenships. “He may be right in saying that giving of citizenships is not wrong if it is done according to law, but he should have added that granting citizenships not according to law is wrong and that the perpetuators should be punished.”
Mahathir, Jeffrey said, had completely missed the point when he compared granting of citizenships to foreign nationals during the formation of the Federation of Malaya in 1957 to doing so in Sabah in the 1990s when he was prime minister.
