Pakatan Harapan to have separate manifestos for Sabah, Sarawak

KOTA KINABALU: Pakatan Harapan is gearing up for the 14th general election and is now finalising its manifesto, its chief secretary Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah told a press conference here, yesterday.

Saifuddin said Pakatan Harapan’s presidential council had decided that other than the main manifesto, there would be separate manifestos for all the states.

We will also have separate manifestos for Sabah and Sarawak respectively which are designed by a committee that is led by the Pakatan Harapan chairman of the two states. The states in Peninsular will have their own manifestos which are called ‘Tawaran Negeri’. Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, Pakatan Harapan chief secretary

Speaking to reporters during a Pakatan Harapan Sabah meeting, Saifuddin said the main manifesto would be a comprehensive one which would be an extended version of the ‘ Buku Jingga’, which would have more details such as the success stories of Penang and Selangor.

“We will also have separate manifestos for Sabah and Sarawak respectively which are designed by a committee that is led by the Pakatan Harapan chairman of the two states. The states in Peninsular will have their own manifestos which are called ‘ Tawaran Negeri’.

“We want to differentiate between the Borneon states and those in Peninsular.

“We will also have specific ‘ Tawaran’ for the youths and women movements in Pakatan Harapan,” he said.

According to him, in the Pakatan Harapan manifesto there will be a chapter on Sabah and one on Sarawak.

“The Sabah and Sarawak manifestos will be extensions of the chapters with specific issues pertaining to the two states.

“For example, in the main manifesto we touch on the issue of the Prime Minister and touch brief ly on the issue of Menteri Besar and Chief Minister.

“Sabah and Sarawak can expand what they want from their Chief Minister,” he stressed.

Saifuddin disclosed that the meeting was part of a series of meetings on Pakatan Harapan Sabah manifesto.

The launching of the manifesto would be at a strategic time, he said, adding that Pakatan Harapan Sabah would be encouraged to do consultations with other stakeholders to get input for the manifesto.

“One thing is for sure, we believe that Sabahans deserve more and we want to frame the manifesto both at the national and Sabah level under the auspices of MA63 and the Federal Constitution.

“That is the premise where we start our discussion on the rights of Sabahans in as far as the manifesto is concerned,” he said.

Saifuddin also announced the appointment of Sabah PKR chairwoman Christina Liew as Pakatan Harapan Sabah chairwoman.

He said the appointment was decided by Pakatan Harapan’s presidential council’s meeting on Aug 28 and the two deputy chairmen were Sabah DAP chairman Stephen Wong and his counterpart in Amanah Sabah Hamzah Abdullah.

The other portfolios will be announced later after they decide on who they want to fill the posts, he added.

Liew said the Pakatan Harapan Sabah manifesto would zoom in on areas of rights, interests and issues of Sabahans.

“Today we have discussed in detail what should be included in the Sabah manifesto for the 14th general election.

“It was a very comprehensive and inclusive discussion. We touched on areas like education, health, economic development, family development and security. All will be revealed on the day the manifesto is launched.

“Pakatan Harapan knows the importance of having a manifesto that is important for the people of sabah. We do not take this lightly,” she stressed.

Also present at the meeting were Amanah vice-president Hassanuddin Yusuf, Sabah PKR vice- chairman Datuk John Ghani, DAP Sabah secretary Chan Foong Hin and leaders from Pakatan Harapan components.