Abdullah: Chong ‘self-flattering’ over S’kan by-election win
Pakatan Harapan (PH) Sarawak and Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen's recent remarks on DAP's victory in the Sandakan by-election have been termed as 'self-flattering'.
Assistant Minister of Corporate Affairs Abdullah Saidol, who said this yesterday, pointed out that the DAP's victory in Sandakan with 54 per cent turnout was not an absolute endorsement of the people of Sandakan on the performance of the PH government.
The Semop assemblyman said Chong ought to take note of PH's loss in the three by-elections – Cameron Highlands, Semenyih and Rantau – before the one in Sandakan.
"Chong said Sabah benefited from good relationship with the federal government and accused the Sarawak GPS government of being hostile and sabotaging good initiatives from Putrajaya.
"I suggest Chong stop bluffing the people of Sarawak. The majority of Sarawakians especially in rural areas all know that PH's federal and state leaders are all about talking big but no delivery," he said when prompted for comments yesterday.
Abdullah reminded Sarawakians that the PH government had cancelled substantial funding for several approved projects in Sarawak, citing national huge debt as the reason behind those cancellations.
At the same time, he noted that a PH minister from Sarawak had announced federalfunded projects for Sandakan worth hundreds of millions of ringgit during the by-election.
He said it was not wrong to assume such sudden generosity from the federal government in favour of the people of Sandakan was a ‘political bribe'.
"Chong, with legal background, knows very well that his statement is absolutely inaccurate when he said the proposed amendments to Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution will restore Sabah and Sarawak rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63),” added Abdullah.
He also said Sarawakians must start asking what Chong had accomplished as Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs.
"Has he been able to reduce prices of basic needs and cost of living? Another attempt by Chong to twist the fact and confuse Sarawakians is about the RM1 billion allocation for repairing dilapidated schools.
"The whole truth is that the federal government admitted that they don't have the RM1 billion allocation for dilapidated schools in Sarawak. So Sarawak makes an offer to loan the federal government the RM1 billion.
"But as expected, some federal leaders refused the idea. Then the Sarawak government offers to repay RM1 billion in federal loans, but such fund must be strictly for the purpose of repairing dilapidated schools in Sarawak, and will be jointly managed by Sarawak and federal government," he said.
Abdullah went on to suggest that Sarawak leaders want to work and cooperate with the federal administration on common interest, particularly those that bring benefit to the community.
However, he said they could not help but feel sceptical since there were many U-turns in PH's decision-making, which he claimed was also causing foreign investors to lose confidence in the country's economy.
He then challenged those in PH Sarawak to take the lead of GPS component parties in quitting a peninsula-based coalition to form their own Sarawak-based one.
“GPS component parties were brave enough to exit Barisan Nasional (BN) and form their own coalition.
"So I suggest those from PH Sarawak form their own Sarawak coalition and let the people of Sarawak decide who are truly sincere in fighting for Sarawak and its people," he said.