Sabah Umno Youth chief Aziz Julkarnain said although the movement respects the decision taken by Kimanis MP Anifah Aman to leave the party, blaming Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) without strong evidence is totally uncalled for.
Anifah claimed he was quitting as he had promised to resign from the party if Umno and BN failed to fulfil their promises related to MA63.
Aziz said first of all, Anifah did not specify what he meant by failure because it had been proven that under the leadership of former Umno president Najib Razak, Umno has been accommodative and concerned about Sabah’s rights.
Najib even promised publicly that he was committed to give back all the rights taken away from Sabah and Sarawak, be it accidentally or deliberately.
“Everybody knows that the struggle to reclaim Sabah’s rights had started in 1976, especially on issues such as oil rights, the return of 40% of net revenue collected by the federal government, and the demotion of Sabah’s status from equal partners to mere states in Malaysia.
“This struggle is not new and it required determination and strength from Sabah’s past leaders who, at the time, dared to speak up without fear.
“Many of our leaders were arrested and thrown in jail just because they wanted to speak up for the rights of our state and our people,” he said.
Among those arrested were Jeffrey Kitingan, who is now Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR) president, and Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) deputy president Maximus Ongkili.
They were detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in 1991, during the premiership of Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Aziz said in the past, Sabah leaders and activists could not even speak up about their rights but Najib allowed the issue to be openly discussed and deliberated.
In 2016, the federal government under Najib’s leadership established a technical Cabinet committee to restore the rights of Sabah and Sarawak under the MA63.
The committee, he said, would never have existed if not for the pressure from Sabah Umno leaders at the time.
“This is one of Sabah Umno’s biggest contributions since coming into power in the state.
“The party has always been serious and committed in identifying breaches of the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) Report, MA63, Malaysia Act 1963, the Federal Constitution and other written reports such as the Cobbold report,” he said.
Therefore, Aziz said Umno and BN should not become punching bags, especially now when the party is facing its biggest challenge yet.
Anifah, who was the former foreign minister, resigned from Umno today, citing the party’s failure to fulfil the MA63.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad promised to restore Sabah and Sarawak’s status as equal partners in the federation once the study on MA63 is completed.
However, he did not give a specific timeframe as to how long the study would take or what kind of study was needed.