KOTA BELUD: UPKO Kota Belud has proposed the formation of a federation comprising all Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties from Sabah to further strengthen the existing cooperation and look for ways on how best it can represent the aspirations of the people within the government.
Its newly elected chief, Ewon Benedick, made the proposal at the UPKO Kota Belud triennial general meeting in Kampung Tamu Darat here on Friday.
“In my observation during and after the recent 13th general election, the four BN component parties from Sabah, UPKO, PBS, PBRS and LDP were facing almost the same situation and problems. The people of Sabah have been sending the message to these parties to fight more for their rights.
“At the same time, they are also unsure whether to give more support to national parties or to local parties. Therefore I propose a Sabah federation of BN parties to be formed to really looking into how effective their representation in the present administrative,” said Ewon.
Citing an example of the jointly initiated Operasi Tataba by PBS, UPKO and PBRS which was aimed to strengthen the political unity and cooperation, Ewon suggested that the concept can be further developed by getting LDP into the federation.
“We are now celebrating the golden jubilee of our beloved nation which was formed in 1963. Definitely we will be talking of what and how would Sabah be in the next 50 years. So for all political reasons, the Sabah-based parties have no option but to strengthen their unity through a solid federation,” said Ewon.
“In the recent 13th General Election, the peninsular-based parties contested in 34 out of 60 state seats and 13 out of 25 parliament seats. The people had asked if the local parties are still relevant because it can no longer form a government of its own origin, while some people thought that the arrangement indicated element of political colonization.
“This must be rectified. Unless we are able to work in unison and speak the same volume on issues that matter to the people of Sabah, we would not be seeing the people giving their support to us again,” he further said.
According to Ewon, the state seat of Kadamaian was an example which its people thought that the national parties such as Umno had overshadowed the other component parties, especially when it gave an open support to the non-governmental organisations such PERKASA and JATI on religious and race issues.
“The publicity was too big to the extent that it made the voice of the other component almost unheard on the same issues. But if a federation of the four parties makes a solid and single stand on such issues, it will definitely sound loud to the ears of the people of Sabah,” he said.
Ewon was of the opinion that even though Umno leaders in Sabah are from the same origin, it still creates doubt among the Sabahans whether they are really able to balance their stand as state leaders, especially when their counterparts in Semenanjung have always been making statements that were totally contradicted to the norm of multi-racial and multi-religious society in Sabah.
“As all component parties are having their congress this year, I personally hope that this can be given a thought as well as be evaluated in their respective meeting.
“May we be guided by the message given by the people in the recent election to really look into the need for us to form an honest and strong solidarity among ourselves,” he concluded.