KEPAYAN: Pertubuhan Pakatan Perubahan Sabah (PPPS) supreme council members have unanimously agreed to join Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).
Its president, Datuk Seri Panglima Lajim Ukin said the decision was made at a supreme council meeting which was held at PPPS’ headquarters yesterday.
PPPS, however, will maintain its NGO status and play the role as government watchdog to ensure that its policies and programmes are good and will benefit the people, he said.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, the Klias assemblyman said, “We have decided to join PKR en-bloc. We are of the opinion that Pakatan Rakyat especially PKR are now established in Sabah so there is no reason why PKR and PR are not accepted in Sabah. Maybe there is a need for more explanation and harder work to make folks, especially those in the rural areas understand better about Pakatan and PKR’s struggles.
“I refute claims that parties from Peninsular Malaysia have no place in Sabah. Look at Umno, DAP so why not Pakatan Rakyat, but we are hampered by several factors, including not getting much publicity in the mass media.
“We pledge to work hard to help Pakatan Rakyat and PKR to explain to the rakyat what their struggles and halatuju are not only for the people in Peninsular Malaysia but also in Sabah,” Lajim said.
PPPS leaders and members, he pointed out, have decided that the organization’s vision is in accordance to that of PKR.
He added that Pakatan Rakyat leader Datuk Seri Anward Ibrahim had suggested that PPPS members and leaders join PKR before the election.
“Datuk Seri Anwar said before parliament was dissolved it would be better for PPPS members to join PKR but we felt that we wanted to use PPPS as our platform first and only use the Pakatan Rakyat coalition members’ logo to contest under it.
“We will submit our application to PKR headquarters and register the members according to the divisions in the areas they come from and we hope to have it done before the PKR national congress on May 25,” Lajim, who joined as PKR life member before nomination day said, adding that there are about 10 to 15 supreme council members who have yet to join.
According to him, they are joining PKR without any conditions such as posts attached and in accordance with the party’s rules.
However, as a member we will be able to contest for posts at the central leadership and division levels, he said and added that it must be remembered that the state leadership is appointed by the central leadership.
Other issues discussed during the meeting included the performance of PPPS members who had contested as PKR candidates in the just concluded election, he said, adding that after conducting a post-mortem, PPPS had decided to file election petitions in areas that they lost with a small majority as it is in line with the instructions from the PKR’s central leadership.
“Among the constituencies we will file election petitions are Kawang, Banggi, Papar and Beaufort. There will be other areas but these will depend on the post-mortem reports from the PKR candidates.
“We also discussed the halatuju of PPPS and its members in the next five years … whether we want to continue our struggles, especially in facing the 14th general election or we will just play the role as an NGO which is not aligned to any political parties.
“We have decided that PPPS will continue as an NGO and we will play a monitoring role to ensure that Barisan Nasional (BN) implements what it has promised in its manifesto for the 13th general election,” he said.
Lajim disclosed that PPPS will support any of BN’s policies that are good and will benefit the rakyat but if it does not profit the people, especially those in Sabah, the organization will voice it to ensure that the government, both state and federal, take the necessary steps to review the policies.