PKR Tuaran still intact, says division chief

TUARAN: The Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) division in Tuaran is still intact even with the departure of a rebel group.

Its chief, Dominic Ombilod, said in a statement here that the head of the rebel group, Rajimit Gunong, claimed to have lost confidence in the division leadership simply because he was not chosen to be the candidate for P170 Tuaran.

“He and his group later made a panicked, eleventh-hour attempt to convince the party's central and state leaders to allow him to wrest away the candidacy for Tamparuli from the chosen candidate, Dausil Kundayong,” Ombilod said. “Unfortunately for him the party leaders had finalised on their decision.

“Obviously he did not meet the party's criteria for candidacy, so he is now blaming the division leadership as well. But the division only made recommendations and did not make the final decisions on candidacy.

“Being disappointed in political ambitions is normal in politics, and Rajimit should be mature enough to take things in stride, to hold his head high, and continue to support the opposition's struggle against the injusti00ces of the Barisan Nasional. Instead he took the drastic move of suddenly frogging to the BN, the regime he has been campaigning against all this while. By joining the BN Rajimit has lost the support and respect of the party members in the division and among the Tuaran community, but we wish him all the best in his new undertakings,” he added.

Ombilod said he in fact had appointed Rajimit to be part of the Tuaran division a year ago but the latter established his own office, then acting like he was the division chief, thinking that he could mobilise his political ambition without the division.

“As far as we are concerned he has the full right to pull down and raise whatever flags he wants at his own office. The division will continue with our new office in Tamparuli from which we are mobilising the campaign for our P170 candidate, Chrisnadia Sinam, and for the candidate of the Tamparuli state seat, Dausil Kundayong,” he said.

PKR Tuaran division committee members cum election district heads led by Rajimit quit en bloc on Sunday and switched allegiance to BN.

Rajimit said they have lost confidence with the party's leadership both at the division and state level namely Ombilod and Christina Liew.