Ewon Benedict
PENAMPANG: The UPKO Komulakan movement has lambasted Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for his refusing to accept Pakatan Rakyat’s defeat to Barisan Nasional in the just concluded 13th general election and for masterminding public rallies to highlight the fraudulent conduct of the election.
Its chief, Ewon Benedick, said the court is wide open for any candidate to file an election petition and it is only proper for Pakatan Rakyat (PR) to use legal means if they want to challenge the veracity of the result.
“Anwar is using the argument that Pakatan Rakyat had won the popular votes and is asking the rakyat to reject the Barisan Nasional government. To me, his statement is indirectly disrespectful of the Malaysia Agreement in which the election boundaries were created not only considering the population but also the geographical and potential of Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.
“Sabah and Sarawak contributed 56 seats or 25 per cent of the total seats in Parliament. But if you combined the 981,814 voters in Sabah, and 1,083,972 voters in Sarawak, you will only get 15 per cent from the total voters in Malaysia, which is 13,268,007. So, if you based your argument on popular votes, not by seats won, then Sabah and Sarawak will never have the equal numbers to Semenanjung,” he said.
“Therefore, as a concerned Sabahan, I think it is unbecoming and unacceptable for Anwar and Pakatan Rakyat to protest through public rallies how the government of the day is being formed. He failed to honour his commitment towards honouring the Malaysia Agreement by saying so. He goes around fooling the people of the Borneo states,” he said.
Ewon opined that Anwar’s statement is an insult to the intellect of the Borneo nationalists who help formed the nation in 1963 based on the certain special rights accorded to the states, and is a slap in the face for those supporting Pakatan Rakyat in Sabah and Sarawak as it clearly showed that Anwar will never honour and respect the autonomy of both states as enshrined in the Federal Constitution despite being spelled out in Pakatan Rakyat manifesto.
“Or is it that he is trying to avoid doing his main job to service his constituency by diverting the people’s attention to the rallies he organised?” asked Ewon.
Ewon, who is UPKO Kota Belud deputy chief, added that everybody should now be focusing on getting the job done for the nation and rakyat instead of rallying for the political interest of a few.
“We are progressing as a parliamentary democratic country, but public rallies for the wrong reasons is something that I don’t see as a political culture to adopt. Those attending the rallies are losing their productive resources and energy which can be better utilised to develop the country.
“Those against the rallies such as business operators, road users and common folks in the neighbourhood are also losing their patience. The police will have to spend more time attending to requests for rally permit than on their real job to keep peace and safety of the citizen,” said Ewon.