‘Dr M seen as a liability’

SAPP: That’s why Warisan is keeping a distance from him

KOTA KINABALU: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is Pakatan Harapan’s biggest liability in Sabah, says Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) secretary-general Datuk Richard Yong.

He said this view was strengthened by remarks by DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang about Dr Mahathir avoiding Sabah in the election campaign and why Warisan is keeping its distance from him.

“Sabahans cannot forget about ‘Project IC’ in Sabah when Dr Mahathir was the prime minister,” he said yesterday.

He claimed that it was under Dr Mahathir’s rule that Project IC emerged when it was said that hundreds of thousands of unqualified foreigners were given dubious citi- zenship documents.

On the Malaysia Agreement 1963, Yong said the rights of Sabahans were disregarded and Sabah became a state which was nothing more than a source of resources for the peninsula to benefit from.

With Dr Mahathir leading the Opposition charge, he said Sabahans could see Pakatan as being no different than Barisan Nasional, with Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia being the Team B of Umno and DAP the replica of MCA.

“How else can one explain why DAP and PKR are now suddenly silent on the Project IC issue?” he said.

Yong was commenting on veteran Lim’s statement during a campaign here that he did not know why Dr Mahathir had so far avoided coming to Sabah.

On Lim’s call to Sabahans to forgive Dr Mahathir, Yong said Dr Mahathir could only redeem himself to Sabahans by cancelling all Project IC documents.

He said in the past, PKR and DAP, but not PAS, had been shouting about Project IC to hit out against Umno and Barisan Nasional.

“Now they are silent about this and Sabahans have realised they are all the same,” he added.

Yong also said that only local parties like SAPP and Gabungan Sabah partners are sincere in the struggle for Sabahans’ rights and interests.