Leiking was commenting on a comment piece in FMT today which said that some members of the Orang Asal community in Sabah saw Shafie as Mahathir’s proxy.
However, Leiking – who is the deputy president of an unnamed Sabahan party recently taken over by Shafie – categorically denied this.
He said their party was a wholly Sabah-based multiracial party designed and administered by Sabahans.
“Our party has nothing to do with Mahathir.
“The whole idea is for Sabahans to have our own party, our own Sabah block, to decide our destiny and our future without any outsiders dictating to us.”
He elaborated that the party, the name of which has yet to be revealed, would focus on all Sabahans, regardless of race, religion or region.
“It’s not about the Kadazans, Bajaus or the Chinese or other races, but about all Sabahans and our rights.
“I think this is something Mahathir cannot understand. So, how can Shafie ever be his proxy?”
He said there were a lot of good West Malaysians who believed in equality for Sabah and these were the people the “new” party would be open to working with, provided that Sabah and the Malaysia Agreement 1963 were honoured.
“To be subservient or to be the proxies of outsiders would mean betraying all Sabahans.
“We will be friends with everyone, but we will only take orders from the people of Sabah and from no one else.”
Leiking also said the insinuation that Shafie would be rejected by the Orang Asal was steeped in fallacy, as Shafie himself was an Orang Asal.
He said some irresponsible people were propagating a misconception that the Orang Asal comprised of certain Sabahan natives, when in fact the term covered all Sabah and Sarawak natives, regardless of their religion or ethnicity.
“In fact, Shafie and I are now the only Orang Asal/native parliamentary Opposition lawmakers from Borneo.”