KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) sees deputy Chief Minister Peter Pang’s quitting from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and his offer to resign from his state cabinet posts as a symptom of the malaise in Barisan Nasional (BN) today.
SAPP president Yong Teck Lee said Pang’s resignation from LDP and his offer to step down from his state cabinet posts is a sign of further aggravation of internal conflict in the BN.
“To put things in prospective, Pang’s resignation is the basic cause of the political problem facing BN.
"It is only a symptom that we see today. But this symptom today has now become very public and will further aggravate the internal conflict in BN,” he said.
“So today’s timing is good (for us). We have 'Pilihanku SAPP' (my choice is SAPP),” he told reporters after officiating the launch of the 'Pilihanku SAPP' booklet authored by Emin Madi yesterday.
Asked whether he was saying it as an offer to Pang, he said: “No, no, no. Looking at the situation since noon today, many things have been revealed.
“The fact that the Prime Minister said Pang had told him that he was joining Gerakan means this is not a spontaneous and instantaneous thing that happened in the last one or two days.
“There would have been a process of discussion leading to today’s announcement…but personally I'm not surprised by the announcement because you have Chin Su Phin and others who have declared they will not cooperate with the Chief Minister.
“And then you have the president (VK Liew) who is neither here nor there and now you have Pang who decides to leave LDP, meaning he will side with the Chief Minister and not with his own party,” Yong said.
He further added that the situation was not only about Pang’s resignation because there were so many other things happening within BN.
Downfall of BN government
He said Pang’s resignation could also be read in the context of Salleh Said, the Sabah Umno deputy chairman’s disclosure of a plot by LDP and others to topple Chief Minister Musa Aman.
“(So) this goes back to my earlier point, which is further aggravation of the internal conflict in BN that will help to expedite the downfall of BN government.
“Since Sabah is considered as a BN ‘fixed deposit’ in Malaysia. When they lose the ‘fixed deposit’ even at the Federal level, they also will lose,” he said.
Yong, a former Sabah chief minister, said Pang’s resignation offer as the deputy chief minister, if it is accepted, will see intense lobbying by various component parties including the Federal-based parties to fill the post.
“That will also help to increase the friction and the tension within BN…if Pang’s resignation is not accepted, that means the whole thing is a show,” he said.
The peninsula-based Chinese parties will make full use of the issue to gain more strength in Sabah, Yong predicted, adding MCA has been waiting for a long time.
“MCA chairman Edward Khoo has been his turn for so long. In his second term as an assemblyman, he was tipped as a favourite to be made a minister.
“So, obviously MCA had at its recent convention declared it wants one more seat in Sabah. Therefore MCA will obviously want to make a bid for the post.”
“You still have the other parties like Upko, PBS and Umno who will also want to make a bid…so it will become more tense and more fractious.
“It is already very hot in BN, so when you add more heat and more fuel they will blow up…so 'Pilihanku SAPP',” he said.
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