KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Democratic Action Party (DAP) is keeping its door wide open for negotiations with national and local opposition parties that share the will to topple Barisan Nasional (BN), said its chairman Stephen Wong.
That said, Wong stressed that the party would not give up on its strongholds and nor should local opposition parties demand Sabah DAP not to contest in the State.
“We are willing to work with other parties, irrespective of national or local-based parties.
“The (nature) of the party is irrelevant, it is the leader and principles of the party that count,” he said when asked to comment on Sabah Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) acting chief cum Api-Api assemblywoman Christina Liew’s statement that there was room for negotiations to reach the target of a straight fight between BN and the opposition.
Prior to this, Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah (Harapan Rakyat) president Datuk Seri Panglima Lajim Ukin has urged peninsular-based opposition parties to consider not contesting in Sabah in the 14th General Election (GE14). Lajim said peninsular-based opposition parties should instead work with their local-based counterparts and give the latter their support in the election.
In response, Wong, who is also Sandakan Member of Parliament, said it was impractical and illogical for local-based opposition parties to return to West Malaysia.
“We should be more sensible. Our door is wide open for negotiation but do not say such impractical things.”
Wong said the Sabah DAP has worked hard in serving the people of Sabah for decades, speaking up and fighting for the interests of Sabahans.
“The GE13 proved the trust and strong support of Sabahans towards the DAP.
“We, along with Christina Liew and PKR have agreed that we would continue to perform our roles in Pakatan Harapan as well as to work with the national opposition parties to take down the BN federal and state governments,” he said, adding that DAP is not a peninsular-based party, but a national party.
Wong said Sabah DAP has yet to officially discuss the possibility of collaboration with other opposition parties.
“We have reached out to Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) but the negotiation was not smooth.
“We do not agree with what Warisan is doing, like sweet talking our members into leaving and eyeing our constituencies.
“It is hard to cooperate if there is no sincerity.”
Wong pointed out that every party has its own strongholds and it was unreasonable to demand a party to give up its stronghold constituencies, which he deemed defied the spirit of cooperation.
He said Sabah DAP would not ‘kacau’ and field a candidate in other opposition party’s strongholds if cooperation has been established.
Meanwhile, Wong said his party secretary Chan Foong Hin has sat down with United Sabah Alliance (USA) to discuss the possibility of collaboration without his presence, while Lajim’s talk of working with his party remained as hearsay at the moment.
But no matter what, Wong said local opposition parties should not have asked national opposition parties not to contest in Sabah, adding that the door would be closed for negotiation with that demand.
“If we (the opposition parties) are unable to come up with a good way to topple BN, the fault is definitely not ours (Sabah DAP) because we are sincere in working together.
“The point is that all of us must be sincere in working together.
“Don’t try to entice our members into leaving the party or attempt to snatch our constituencies,” Wong said.