Chin
SANDAKAN: As a party that upholds democracy, all central leadership posts in Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from the party president, deputy president, vice presidents and supreme council are open for contest, said its acting president Datuk Chin Su Phin.
He said the nomination for the posts would be held on September 15.
“Eligible party members are allowed to vie for any of the positions, including the presidency.”
Chin said that when officiating at the joint conference of LDP Tanjung Papat, Sekong and Sungai Sibuga and Karamunting divisions here yesterday.
He said this was his second time stepping in as the acting president of the party, a position which he would hold till October 20 this year, following the resignation of Datuk Seri Panglima Teo Chee Kang as the party president recently.
“The first was back in 2013 during our party’s leadership crisis when I assumed the role of acting president for a month.”
He said LDP respected Teo’s decision to resign as president.
“That said, LDP’s defeat in all the four state and one parliamentary seats in the 14th General Election (GE14) is not the fault of one leader. The whole party bears the responsibility.”
He said the outcome of GE14 spoke volumes about the majority of voters’ sentiment to topple the Barisan Nasional (BN) government.
“The election results show that all BN component parties have suffered a crushing defeat.”
Chin said Teo, during his tenure as the Minister of Special Tasks, had undeniably contributed greatly to the Chinese community in Sabah. His defeat in Tanjong Kapor state constituency had cost the Chinese community an excellent leader.
“Nevertheless, reality is something we must learn to accept when it comes to politics.
“It takes a lot of courage for Teo to take the helm of the party, and more so to relinquish his presidency.
“Although he no longer leads LDP, Teo remains in the party and will continue to fight for our struggles.
“Teo is still young and we believe he may make a comeback in politics in the future.”
Chin added that Datuk Liew Vui Keong had also maintained his party membership when he lost the presidency during the LDP’s leadership crisis until he joined Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) six months before GE14.
“We wish to congratulate Liew for winning the Batu Sapi parliamentary seat under Warisan’s ticket and later being appointed as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law).”
Despite LDP’s complete defeat in the election, Chin was not disappointed by the outcome.
“The people have spoken loud and clear. They want a change of government.
“For the last 60 years, the Umno-led BN government had been perceived to be invincible.
“But not this time.”
Today, he said the two-party system had taken shape in our country’s political landscape.
“If the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government fails to demonstrate good governance, I believe the people will vote for a new administration again.”
Nonetheless, he said the people should give the PH Federal Government and Warisan-led State Government time to do their job.
“Rectifying flawed policies left behind by the previous BN government could not possibly be done overnight.
“As the Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said, the new government has a challenging task ahead of working with unwilling officers.”
As for LDP, Chin said the party would continue to play its role as a constructive and responsible opposition party.
“Our party will fully support policies introduced by the State Government headed by Datuk Seri Panglima Shafie
Apdal that will improve the wellbeing of the people.
“At the same time, LDP will speak up and give constructive feedback to rectify weaknesses in the government.”
On another note, LDP Sungai Sibuga, Tanjung Papat and Sekong divisions have passed a resolution to nominate Chin for the party presidency and incumbent vice president Datuk Lim Ming Hoo for the deputy president’s post in the coming election.
Also present at the conference was LDP secretary general Senator Datuk Yong Wui Chung.