PBS pins hopes on Najib and federal cabinet
Posted on February 6, 2012, Monday
PAPAR: Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) information chief Datuk Johnny Mositun urged Sabahans to have have faith in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to respond positively to demands for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on Sabah’s illegal immigrants.
“Both Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan, who was appointed by the state Barisan Nasional (BN) to gather inputs and recommendations from Sabah and Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili who chairs the parliamentary committee to study the matter, have completed their work. A full report has been submitted to the Prime Minister and the federal cabinet is expected to discuss the matter at its next meeting,” Mositun said at the Wanita PBS Pantai Manis Division Chinese New Year celebration here yesterday.
Asked if he expected the establishment of the RCI to be announced at the next cabinet meeting, Mositun said that would be jumping the gun.
“Like most Sabahans, I am hopeful, yes, but I would not venture to pre-empt the Prime Minister on this. That is Datuk Seri Najib’s prerogative. It is a very complex issue and a decision may or may not be announced immediately. However, PBS has good reason to be optimistic,” he said.
Mositun said the PBS optimism was based on the near universal backing from Sabahans for an RCI to be set up to resolve the state’s chronic and long-standing problem with huge numbers of illegal immigrants.
“Najib himself pledged a solution to this problem even before he became the Prime Minister. Datuk Seri Musa Hj Aman and Sabah Umno also support the request for an RCI. The response from the Prime Minister and federal leaders to the last PBS congress’ resolution for an RCI on illegal immigrants in Sabah was also very positive. With all the other Sabah BN component parties, opposition parties, most NGOs and people in the street sharing the same view, PBS is very optimistic that the federal cabinet will approve the RCI,” he said.
Noting that PBS had spoken out and acted for an end to the problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah since the party’s inception in the eighties, Mositun acknowledged the efforts and contributions of other BN component parties in Sabah that had taken up the common cause to rid Sabah of this huge threat to the state’s security and wellbeing.
“There is no need to use threats or attempt to hold the federal leaders in Kuala Lumpur to ransom over this issue. The unity and cooperation of all the BN component parties in Sabah is enough for the federal government to respond positively to our needs and requests. Let us not be influenced by the opposition that would have us believe otherwise for their own selfish ends,” Mositun said.
