The party’s secretary-general, Nelson Angang, said PKR’s actions ran counter to the autonomy which Sabah PH had been granted, especially since its president, Ewon Benedick, had been appointed as a coordinator for the state chapter.
Nelson said Ewon was appointed as the coordinator after the PH Presidential Council failed to resolve issues linked to the party’s chairmanship of Sabah PH.
In December last year, Ewon was elected as Sabah PH’s chairman, replacing Christina Liew of PKR, who held the post since 2017.
Two weeks later, Liew said discussions were being held on her possible return as Sabah PH chairman, adding that talks were being held with PKR president Anwar Ibrahim and members of the state leadership council.
On Dec 25, a Sabah PKR leader was reported as saying the state PH chairmanship rightfully belonged to PKR, citing a formula that had been agreed upon and adhered to by PH’s component parties.
Nelson said Upko was publicly chastised for taking over the chairmanship despite Ewon being voted in at the election which was handled by PH at the national level.
“The Upko president was subsequently appointed only as a coordinator, but the decisions revolving around PH’s preparations for the election was decided by PKR,” he said in a statement.
Earlier this evening, Nelson said Upko decided to quit PH effective immediately after taking into account its time in the coalition and the sentiment among Sabahans for local parties to join forces.
He said the party noticed a split between Upko’s stance and that of the PH components at the national level in regards to Sabah’s entitlement to 40% of federal revenue derived from the state, among others, as well as the failure to grant autonomy to Sabah PH.
Upko was part of Barisan Nasional from 1994 to 2018. It left the coalition after the 14th general election in 2018 to form the Sabah government with Warisan and PH.
It then formally joined PH in August 2021 and contested under the coalition’s banner in Sabah during the 15th general election the following year.
Last night, Ewon resigned as the entrepreneur development and cooperatives minister, citing Upko’s principle on upholding the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and Sabah’s constitutional rights.