Ongkili welcomes decision of Umno Sabah leaders
KOTA KINABALU: Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) president Datuk Seri Dr. Maximus Ongkili has welcomed former Sabah Umno members’ bold decision to leave the Umno party.
“They have finally decided to follow us (PBS) to be ‘bebas’ (free). We will wait and see the development that follows,” he added.
Following this recent development, the Kota Marudu member of parliament said, for now, the local opposition political alliance Gabungan Bersatu Sabah (GBS) will continue without UMNO Sabah, and will proceed when the dust is settled on the newly partyless Yang Berhormats’ (YBs) side.
“Meantime, PBS will stick to its own agenda by strengthening its grassroots support and continuing to put the State Government on the stand so that they will govern responsibly.
“PBS will support what’s good for the people, but will oppose that which are destructive to Sabah,” he said.
In wishing the former Umno Sabah leaders all the best in their new political move, he also hope and pray that, together, our struggle will always be ‘Sabah for Sabahans First, then Other Malaysians’.
Most importantly, Ongkili stressed, was to protect Sabah from uninvited foreigners, and that illegal immigrants are cleared from the land of Sabah.
“We maintain our stand that the Warisan-led State Government did not earn the mandate of the Sabah voters. They are now the government because of Upko’s ‘frog jump’ (switch allegiance), which forced the then Barisan Nasional parties and voters to the opposition bench,” he said.
He further added that PBS elected leaders will remain principled and responsible to our grassroots.
On whether PBS intends to have any alignment at Federal or State levels, he said, the matter will only be considered after consultation with the grassroots and evaluating the benefits for the people and in strict adherence to respectable and principled political action.