KOTA KINABALU: Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) has never sidestepped the struggle to ensure welfare and rights of the Sabah people are protected as enshrined in the state and federal constitutions, said the party’s information chief Datuk Johnny Mositun.
The people of Sabah should not lose memory of what PBS under the leadership of Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan stood for and the spirit and
reasons for the formation of PBS in 1985 has not faltered despite the party’s changing position in Barisan Nasional (BN) over its 28 years existence, he said.
“The distorted picture painted against PBS over the lack of enthusiasm to champion the many issues the people are not happy with is not true at all,” Mositun said when closing the PBS Inanam Election Machinery Seminar yesterday and was attended by 340 participants from 85 branches.
Also present were PBS Inanam chief Datuk Johnny Goh, Youth Exco Vicor Lee, Wanita Exco Datin Evelyn Goh and organizing chairman Sabin Gantaliban.
Mositun said no right-minded Sabahans should ever be taken in by the emotionally charged make-believe tactic of the opposition operatives who are making their bids to mislead the people especially the youths who are being denied the benefits of understanding the historical chain of events that had led to the unresolved issues affecting our economy and security well being.
Barisan Nasional (BN) per se was not the culprit behind all the issues that the opposition parties are now trying to attribute and plant into the minds of the people of Sabah, he stressed.
“We cannot discount the belief that the culprits were actually individuals within BN who at one instance or another caused the ‘malpractices’ and ‘abuses’ to be imposed on to our Sabah society for the very reason to stay on to power.
“Some of the very people who sabotaged PBS’ efforts on the legacy issues are actually now on the other side of the political divide. Our younger generation should be informed that most of the loud crying opposition leaders don’t carry any credibility to champion the issues like injustices, illegal transient voters, disparities in civil service appointments and work contracts, and inefficient service delivery.”
The people must not forget that when they performed their democratic rights returning PBS to helm the State administration, in all aftermath instances, political obstacles and hindrances were employed to thwart swearing-in of the government, said Mositun who is also State Deputy Speaker.
“Tan Sri Joseph Pairin had experienced tremendous hardship to get the Head of
State to swear him in as Chief Minister.
“Who were the people behind all these heinous acts? Who were the people responsible to buy time luring and hijacking PBS elected assemblymen? Who could have been responsible to register alleged ‘dubious voters’ during PBS rule purportedly the reason causing local voters being outnumbered in subsequent elections.
“These are the very people leading their operatives in Sabah talking about the same old issues already being taken up by the State BN, and PBS is fighting hard with other component parties to seek solutions to them.
“We challenge our political adversaries especially those who have never supported our cause since 1984; and those who were with us but went against us since 1994 and even earlier to show how genuine and difference they are in realizing what we have been fighting for!
“Sound bites and slogans alone cannot expedite the resolutions of the decade’s old problems in the State. The opposition parties are just capitalizing on the people’s emotion to make a fast track grasp of power for their own selfish purposes,” Mositun said.
PBS rejoined BN in 2002 was with the welfare of the Sabah people at heart, he said.
“We did not want the opportunity to resolve the perennial and
critical problems drift away.
“We were convinced at that time the Federal Government needed PBS which represented the voice of the Sabah people at that time too, to stabilize the political situation in Sabah and the Nation as a whole. Of course our return did not go down well with certain quarters who were instrumental in ‘criminalizing’ the PBS leadership.
“What happened after that has proven beyond doubt of PBS’s sincerity and
innocence.
“We are seeing changes. Sabah is experiencing tremendous improvement in various areas under the National Transformation Drive initiated by the BN Federal government led by YAB Dato Seri Najib Tun Razak.
“The Federal leadership is listening now to the cries and needs of Sabahans. With a more effective and efficient delivery mechanism governed by the requirement of NKR and KPI, abuses and mismanagement could be erased and the people will be able to receive the services and rightful benefits denied of them for so long.
“We also express full support and commend the good leadership of Chief Minister
Datuk Seri Musa Aman.
“With the imminent crystallization of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the illegal immigrants and dubious issuance of stay documents to these PTIs, the most
critical issue worrying Sabahans all the while can be taken care of,” Mositun said.
He said the people of Sabah and members of PBS are as strong as ever in the resolve to pursue the agenda enlisted by the BN government for the well-being of Sabah and the nation as a whole.
“We should be wary of the calls for change of government which the opposition operatives had sounded. The slogan or war cry like sound bites ‘Ini kali lah’,
‘Ubah!’ and ‘Siapa Lagi?’ are mere fantasies and ‘feel
good’ consoling words.
“There is no reason not to trust a party like PBS to safeguard the people’s interest having gone through all the trials and turbulence of 28 years. If not PBS under Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan, who else?”