In his speech after retaining the Sabah DAP chairman’s post at the state DAP convention today, Stephen Wong said it was now more than six months since Pakatan Harapan formed the federal government but there was no sign of the devolution of power to the two new ministries formed under the Sabah government.
“I was told many Sabahans are starting to lose patience. However, I understand this new federal government needs time to fix the various problematic institutions in the country and also to mend the country’s financial situation.
“But Sabahans are hoping that any decisions concerning the state’s health and education matters will only be made after getting the permission and agreement of the Sabah government.
“What was promised, must be kept. Devolution of power must be carried out immediately. Do not disappoint the people of Sabah,” he said.
Wong, who is also the state’s Health and People’s Wellbeing Minister, praised the federal government for agreeing to form a committee to review the implementation of the Malaysia Agreement as this was also one of PH’s election promises.
Unfortunately, he said, months had passed since the announcement was first made but there had not been any meetings to discuss the critical issues.
“The people are still waiting for their rights to be restored according to the law,” he said.
He reminded the federal government that without the support from both Sabah and Sarawak, it would have been impossible for PH to wrest Putrajaya from Barisan Nasional.
Prior to the election, he said, Sabah PH targeted that it could win a maximum of 10 parliamentary seats but it managed to win 14 and in addition to Sarawak’s 10 seats, contributed 24 seats in total to unseat BN.
For this reason, he said, as the Sabah DAP chairman, he felt he had the responsibility to remind the federal government that the election was won by convincing the people that PH would be able to fulfil their aspirations.
The previous government, he said, was not only corrupt but also selfish which was why the people had rejected it.
“The fourth core of the PH manifesto is to restore the status of Sabah and Sarawak according to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
“We have succeeded in winning the support of the majority of Sabahans and we have won the election because of this promise.
“Therefore, what we promised must be fulfilled as soon as possible,” he said.