Decide based on facts, Tangau urges voters
KOTA BELUD: Voters in Sabah need to make their decision based on facts and not on hatred-based politics and of personal agenda, said Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau.
He said Sabahans have been known for not being afraid of making a change and Sabah is one of the states that had been under the rule of an opposition government before.
“However, for this general election I wish to impress upon our voters in Sabah to decide based on facts.
“Choose a state government that is stable, progressive and innovative. Never choose politics that is based on hatred and personal agenda,” he said during his campaign trail in support of Upko-BN Kadamaian state candidate Ewon Benedick in Kampung Sukang here Sunday.
According to him, the prosperity of the people of Sabah remained as the Barisan Nasional’s top agenda and its manifesto also emphasised on Sabah’s rights under the 1963 Malaysia Agreement (MA63) but all these could only happen if BN stayed as government in Sabah and at the federal level.
Tangau who is BN candidate for P170 Tuaran parliamentary seat, said the existing cordial relationship between the state and federal governments was crucial.
“Do not gamble with Sabah’s future, which is currently going through rapid development phase such as the Pan Borneo Highway project. Can we trust the opposition to administer the State?” he asked.
The so-called pact between Harapan and Warisan looked brittle like in Batu Sapi where Amanah and Warisan have put up candidate of their own for the same seat, he said.
More importantly, he said one parliamentary vote for the opposition means one vote for Harapan’s Prime Minister candidate Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
“Do we want to go back to the past? During his tenure as Prime Minister, Mahathir had completely ignored Sabah. And I have said before Sabahans will never forgive him for masterminding the ‘Projek IC’ that changed the demographics of Sabah forever,” he said.
The acting president of Upko pointed out that under the Eighth Malaysia Plan, Mahathir only allocated RM1.42 billion to Sabah but under present Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s administration had allocated a whopping RM7.6 billion to Sabah under the 10th Malaysia Plan.
Meanwhile, he said three prominent Sabah BN component parties namely Upko, PBS and PBRS had agreed to set up a presidential council that would see a united front to struggle for the KDM within the BN’s ambit.
He also did not rule out a possibility that the three parties might hold a joint convention to provide members the platform to voice out issues affecting them.
On another note, Tangau was confident of BN’s chances in securing the Kadamaian state seat, which Upko swapped with PBS for Bingkor following the solidarity shown by the component parties, especially PBS to support Ewon’s candidacy. Adding to the confidence was the declaration of support by Parti Anak Negeri Kota Belud chief Panatua Daibi Mandadi to Ewon.
“I had wanted to contest but when I was told Ewon Benedick will be the candidate for BN, I backed out. I knew him from his university days and the way he does things. He has the quality to transform Kadamaian so I declare my full support to him,” he said.
Daibi and his supporters then handed over application forms to join Upko to Tangau at the ceremony held in former OCPD Martin Lugu’s residence.