KOTA KINABALU: Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS) leaders have called on the opposition parties in Sabah to unite so that they can become a force for the Barisan Nasional (BN) to contend with.
President Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred Bumburing in a joint statement with deputy presidents, Datuk Dr. Richard S. Gunting and Paul Voon, said that Sabah-based and Peninsular-based opposition parties, should form one single alliance of political parties to face the BN in the coming 14th general election (GE14).
PCS was of the opinion that it is very pertinent for all Sabah-based opposition parties to come together and unite as one opposition front to face the BN in the coming 14th general election.
Gabungan Sabah or USA, they contended, must come to a realisation that alone it cannot win enough seats to topple the BN government and form a new government if it is serious enough to go for a regime change, Bumburing pointed out.
“We can’t deny the fact that peninsular-based PKR and DAP have managed to establish themselves in Sabah due to the absence of formidable Sabah-based opposition parties for a number of years and they both managed to win some seats during the previous 13th general election. We need to respect their current position.
“We also need to recognize and respect that newly-formed Parti Warisan Sabah led by Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, which has, to date, managed to increase the winds-of-change momentum among the vast majority of people here in Sabah into a kind of political tsunami,” he stressed.
It is therefore on the basis of this and on the common objective for total regime change both at state and federal level that all the opposition parties, Sabah-based and Peninsular-based form one single alliance of political parties to face the BN in the coming election, he added.
“This alliance may not be able to reach a consensus on the use of a common symbol, however, we can always reach an agreement in respect of using our own respective symbols to be used by one common candidate to represent all the opposition parties and for as long as we are sincere towards each other,” Bumburing said.
“Leaders of any opposition parties who have, in the past, associated themselves, or may still be, with any leaders from BN under the guise of fighting for MA63 and other related issues must disassociate themselves from any BN leaders. History has taught us that fighting for Sabah’s rights would be a futile struggle under this present government.
“This is the only way the opposition parties in Sabah can unite together to position ourselves as a single force to face the BN and to avoid disappointing the vast majority of the opposition sympathizers and supporters who are depending upon us as having one common platform as we move forward to change this government for the better, come the 14th general election,” he said.