PENAMPANG: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president Datuk Yong Teck Lee yesterday urged party members and other opposition parties not to underestimate the strength of Barisan Nasional (BN) in the 13th General Election.
“It is not that easy to topple the BN government, so do not underestimate the political will of BN leaders to stay in power,” he said in his speech when opening SAPP Moyog division office at Donggongon Point here yesterday.
Only by working hard and cooperating with other opposition parties will SAPP stand a chance of defeating BN in the general election, he said.
Yong, who said SAPP is ready to work with the other opposition parties, urged the members to be fully prepared.
“It is not only about getting people to cast their votes, we have to monitor every second of the process until the counting of the ballots,” he said.
SAPP, he said, will work hard to win the state seats it is going to contest and ensure Pakatan Rakyat (PR) candidates win the parliamentary seats they are contesting.
On SAPP Moyog division election manifesto launched yesterday, Yong said all the party’s divisions will be launching their own manifestos as it will contain localized issues.
“The SAPP Moyog manifesto was approved and adopted by the party’s supreme council and therefore is not just a promise of things to come for the rakyat in Moyog,” he said.
The16-point manifesto tabled by SAPP Moyog CLC chairman Aloysius Danim Siap pledged among other things the cancellation of the proposed Kaiduan dam project which is expected to involve the relocation of nine villages.
“If SAPP forms the next state Government, it will make sure that this project is cancelled,” Aloysius said.
The manifesto also includes other local issues such as Maang resettlement site for squatters from Sri Tanjung, construction of a secondary school in upper Moyog, setting up of a community college in Penampang, a small township project in Moyog and upgrading of Penampang Poliklinik.
Aloysius said that when UPKO president Tan Sri Bernard was Chief Minister, he had promised to upgrade St. Michael Church to a cathedral.
“However this proposal never came to fruition, so we urge SAPP, when it forms the government to fulfill this promise to upgrade the church to a cathedral,” he said.
Also present at the event was SAPP advisor Datuk Mohd Noor Mansor.