KOTA KINABALU: National opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has reminded Pakatan Rakyat (PR) component parties in Sabah to focus on the unity of the coalition.
Anwar who was met at Sabah Parti KeADILan Rakyat’s (PKR) Maulidur Rasul celebration at Millenium Centre along Jalan Lintas Kepayan here, said this when asked what had transpired at a breakfast meeting he had with the PR component parties in Sabah yesterday.
“I met the leaders of PKR, DAP and PAS. I reminded them to focus on the issue of unity not only in Pakatan but more so in racial and religious harmony because that is our strength, our focus in the thrust of our policy as opposed to Umno/BN.
“The PR leaders must come up with a common stand, common statements and go together to assure the Muslims, Kadazan and Chinese that we are united in dealing with all the issues,” he said.
The PKR de-facto leader also said that during the meeting he spoke to the Sabah PR leaders about the economic issue in the state as well as the country.
“We need to explain because the government says everything is due to international market forces. I re-countered by saying that internationally the prices of sugar and petrol have gone down in the past one year but in Malaysia it continues to move up.
“On the issue of sugar, the problem is of course cronyism because one company controls so there is no competition. The wealth of the state has not changed, before the election this was our major criticism, the few are super rich the majority of the vast majority are not benefiting from the enormous wealth,” he opined.
Anwar who was on a two-day working visit to Sabah, arrived on Saturday and proceeded to meet PKR members as well as supporters in Kudat and Kota Belud.
On his visit to Kadamaian in Kota Belud, he said that the support for PKR there was still very strong.
Kadamaian was won by PKR in the 13th general election but later lost the seat after its assemblyman, Jeremy Malajad, defected and is now aligned to Barisan Nasional (BN).
“The response to our program was good and although the majority of the constituents are KadazanDusun and Christians, the situation in relation to the ‘Allah’ and Bible seizure issues there is not as tense as the Umno/BN leaders are making it seemed,” he stressed.
Anwar added that he took time to explain to the people about PR and PKR’s stand on the ‘Allah’ and Bible seizure issues so that the people know and will not be confused.
He also disclosed that he met with the Sabah PKR supreme council members on Satuday night and spoke to them about the need to focus on racial as well as religious unity.
“Another issue I touched on was about the economic situation of the country which has resulted in a very moderate celebration of the Chinese New Year. We can see that the people’s purchasing power has decreased and this is not only happening in Sabah but all over the country.
“If the Chinese community is also affected by the slow economy, it can be said that the other communities will be feeling the brunt of it too and the government has yet to address the problem,” he said.
Meanwhile when asked to comment on Sabah PKR chief Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin’s claim that support for PKR in some Muslim areas in the state had waned, Anwar said that there was truth to the claim and this was not only in Sabah but also in other states.
“This could be because the people there are not exposed to information such as the ‘Allah’ issue which is something the Christian community is feeling pressure about. But the way Umno is campaigning the issue is by claiming that Islam is under threat and if they do not make a stand, Muslims will lose their religious influence and political power.
“We therefore must go down to the ground to explain to the people, especially the grassroots about this issue because if we allow the situation to remain so, the perception will be that political power is in the hands of the Muslims and Islam is the federation’s religion.
“Muslims are the majority in Malaysia so what are you (Umno) afraid of?” Anwar questioned and opined that it is just a political excuse to cover up the corruption cases and economic problems in the country.