Dompok
KOTA KINABALU: United Pasokmomogun KadazanDusun Murut Organization (UPKO) is staying put in Barisan Nasional (BN), siad its president Tan Sri Bernard Dompok.
This is because the BN government can deliver what the people want, he told reporters at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) last night.
Dompok, when responding to the question if UPKO was leaving BN, said: “No. I have just told you that for us it’s a job to be done.
“We are on the same page with a lot of these people who have something to say about the government, but we feel that it is in this government that we can do the things that we want to do,” he said.
“We differ on the method of doing it. Obviously there are things that we agree (and) is a shared vision among all these other people who have something to say.
“At the end of the day we think that it is the BN that will be able to deliver what we want and a good example is the Royal Commission of Inquiry on the presence of illegal immigrants in Sabah.”
Asked if his call for the BN leadership to immediately resolve the issues raised by the UPKO leaders and the two Sabah members of Parliament who switched alliance to the opposition was an ultimatum for the federal government, Dompok said that it was not necessary for him to do that.
This is because Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will be coming to Sabah on August 11 and he will be announcing all the details required of the RCI, including the subject of who will be appointed to the commission.
“I have been talking with him about these things over the last few months… yesterday and today I’ve had a word with him again.
“It is confirmed that he is coming here on the 11th and will be dealing with all that is required of the RCI,” the Commodities and Plantation Industries Minister said.
Asked if Upko’s strength was affected by former deputy president Datuk Wilfred Bumburing’s claims that he had the party’s leaders’ support, Dompok replied, “Well I have not gone counting how many per cent is supporting.
“All these things will have to be seen. The party of course is contesting in all six state seats and the rest are contested by other component parties,” he said.
UPKO, Dompok stressed, is not at a crossroads now; it is instead on the highway and it is business at usual for the party.
He said that among steps UPKO will be more obliged to do is part in the 13th general election, and the party feels confident that the people understand what it stands for has not been compromised.
“We are doing our level best to do what we have been doing all the time and I think we are getting there. A lot of things have been said and at the end of the day it is what comes out from their mouths.
“Sometimes it seems to be greener on the other side but it is not so. I am happy that what we are doing is bearing fruits,” he said.
On Bumburing’s resignation, Dompok said, “Well it is a resignation, the talks have been going on for almost a year. I think people have got quite used to it and when it came I do not think anybody was surprised.
The posts in the party vacated by Bumburing and other leaders are consequential matters that UPKO will have deal with, he said, adding that the party’s election will be held next year.