Gabungan Sabah (Gabungan) and Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) said BN’s claim that the rights of Sabah and Sarawak under MA63 would be realised through consensus showed it was not serious about the issue.
Yong Teck Lee, president of the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) under Gabungan, said it was more like a clause in a contract.
“Look at the manifesto ‘secara konsensus’ (through consensus)… It’s a trick to deny the implementation of MA63 because as long as Malaya does not agree, there is no consensus,” he said.
He said this proved once again that the BN federal government had no intention of fulfilling its promises.
“This manifesto for Sabah is a farce. It is like fooling a donkey into chasing after a carrot in front of it,” Yong told FMT.
Another Gabungan component party, Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah (PHRS), agreed with SAPP, saying BN had only swung into action after the opposition repeatedly brought up the MA63 issue.
“Why didn’t BN look into the MA63 provisions during its administration?” asked PHRS president Lajim Ukin.
He said the entire BN manifesto was unrealistic, which should be reason enough for Sabahans to pick a local-based alliance, particularly Gabungan, to safeguard the rights of the people.
“Imagine if it is still the same government after the election… we will still be at the level where we are now,” he said during a ceramah in Beaufort near here yesterday.
Meanwhile, Warisan president Shafie Apdal said the promises on MA63 made in the manifesto were an insult to Sabah and Sarawak, claiming it was BN’s final act of desperation to secure support in both states.
“The manifesto unveiled by Prime Minister Najib Razak is just another attempt to extend the life of the ruling coalition for another term,” he said during a meet-the-people session in Sabah’s east coast Kunak district yesterday.
“The pledges made for Sabah, and also Sarawak, do not make sense at all as many of them are actually repeats from the past which were never fulfilled. And now they recycle these pledges.
“I see it as just another ploy by BN and its leaders to drag out the issue. They do not intend to see the terms of MA63 implemented at all.”
The Semporna MP said last year, Sabah BN had laughed when he pledged to incorporate the historical aspects of MA63 in the school syllabus.
“Now, they shamelessly steal our ideas,” he added.
Shafie told the gathering that a Warisan-Pakatan Harapan government would ensure that once in power, whatever had been agreed on would be implemented in the shortest time possible.
On the promise to upgrade the Sandakan airport, Shafie asked when the airport in Lahad Datu would be upgraded as the promise had been made five years ago.
He also questioned the pledges to upgrade the public transport system, adding that Sabah did not have an efficient public transport system.
“Even the bus rapid transport system (BRT) for Kota Kinabalu has remained an unfulfilled promise.
“But our oil money is being used to build a massive MRT system in Kuala Lumpur while the people in Sabah suffer.
“As for Esscom (Eastern Sabah Security Command), I want to ask where are the five battalions that were promised?”
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