Leave west coast seats to other opposition parties, Yong urges Warisan
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Progressive Party president Datuk Yong Teck Lee yesterday urged Warisan Sabah to stick to wresting seats in Sabah's east coast from Barisan Nasional (BN) and leave it to other opposition parties to take care of the seats in the west coast.
Yong questioned Warisan Sabah's intention of travelling to areas such as Beaufort and Tuaran recently to promote the party.
“Parti Warisan Sabah can win the east coast. But Lajim (Datuk Lajim Haji Ukin, president of Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah) could win Beaufort and the rural areas in Sabah's south,” he said.
Yong also questioned Warisan Sabah president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal's recent statement that he did not believe in the Gabungan Sabah leaders.
“The parties that want to break the alliance in Sabah and do not want to work together can be likened as an agent for parties in Malaya,” he said.
At the same time, Yong also questioned Shafie's statement urging Sabahans to forgive former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohammed.
“My reaction is that Shafie should list down the things that Mahathir did wrong and what he needs to be forgiven for,” he said.
Meanwhile, State DAP chairman Stephen Wong said Warisan's move to lay claim to rural seats would cause DAP's five years of hard work to establish a presence in such areas to go down the drain.
He said the party had undertaken its Impian Sabah project immediately after the conclusion of the 2013 general election, long before Warisan was set up.
“We have completed over 30 projects, from smallscale infrastructural ones, to skills, educational and health workshops. Are we greedy? Why blame us?”
Wong's comments came following Shafie's statement on Sunday that seat negotiations between his party and Pakatan Harapan parties had hit a snag, as DAP insisted on standing in rural seats.
The general consensus among the Sabah opposition is that DAP will focus on urban seats.
But, Wong said, DAP hoped to contest only 12 state seats, including Bingkor, Melalap and Sook, and five parliamentary seats, including defending Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan, and the two PKR seats of Keningau and Tenom.
Nevertheless, Warisan has made it clear that it will still go up against opponents head-on if no consensus is reached among the opposition regarding seats.
Wong said there had yet to be formal discussions with Warisan over the matter, but Shafie had contacted him about meeting up.
“Shafie contacted me about two weeks ago, and told me that he wanted to meet. But, he has yet to come back to me on the matter.
“We are only asking for 12 out of the 73 state seats... is that asking for too much?”
He challenged Warisan to drop its plans to contest in all parliamentary seats.
“Shafie constantly says PH should concentrate on Parliament. Will they give us a clean shot at all 25 Sabah parliamentary seats?
“He also told us to concentrate on urban seats, and yet, every day, Warisan members are disturbing our areas, telling the media that they too will contest in these areas.”
He said Warisan was active in areas like Kapayan, which DAP won through Dr Edwin Bosi in GE13.
Bosi left DAP to join Parti Anak Negeri, led by former PBS secretary-general Henrynus Amin, last year.