Lajim set to ‘lock horns’ with PKR headquarters
The feedback from headquarters is that the local chapters in Borneo should take “baby steps” in seeking greater autonomy from national leaders in the peninsula.
(Free Malaysia Today) – Sabah Opposition Leader and the head of the local chapter of the peninsula-based PKR, Lajim Ukin, who defected from the Barisan Nasional (BN) before the last General Election, has thrown down the gauntlet with party headquarters. This follows the realisation that the rural voters in Orang Asal country refuse to have anything to do with the party.
“Many Sabahans think that just as in Umno Sabah, PKR Sabah leaders have little say on how the state should be run.”
Taking a leaf from former PKR vice-president Jeffrey Kitingan, Lajim is demanding that PKR Sabah and Sarawak be allowed to have their own annual congresses separate from that held in the peninsula by the headquarters.
“We don’t want people going around saying that we are a parti Malaya and that we have no business being in Borneo,” said Lajim.
“We want to dispel the notion that we are puppets like the BN component parties in Sabah who are puppets of Umno and like the puppets in Umno Sabah.”
Lajim was explaining the stir that he created in Shah Alam recently when he turned up with a 270-strong delegation from Sabah with placards demanding that Sabah and Sarawak be allowed to hold their own separate annual congresses.
“This is in line with the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63),” said Lajim. “We must have autonomy from the headquarters.”
“If we can hold our own annual Congress, it will help us cut down on expenses travelling to the peninsula on party matters.”
