Sabah opposition still far from united

“Initially, they wanted 40 seats, and that is not acceptable to PKR, because we have PAS, DAP, APS, PPPS… we must all work together." 

Miahaha.. pejam celik pejam celik, esok dah PRU.. Pembangkang Sabah masih bercakaran mengenai pembahagian kerusi. Contohilah Barisan Nasional, walaupun terdiri dari 13 parti komponen, namun tidak pernah berhadapan dengan masalah pembahagian kerusi sebagaimana yang dilalui oleh pembangkang Sabah hari ini. Jika tujuh parti pembangkang di Sabah tidak mampu mewujudkan satu gabungan yang mantap seperti BN, baik jangan mimpi membentuk kerajaan baru di negeri ini.

Eloklah Bumburing terus menjadi batu api untuk merenggangkan hubungan antara PR dan SAPP. Walau apapun yang diperkatakan oleh pemimpin spesis katak ini, yang pasti beliau telah membuktikan bahawa beliau sememangnya mahukan kuasa untuk memerintah negeri ini, bukan untuk membela nasib rakyat... Hinggakan SAPP yang cuba untuk bekerjasama dengan PR dilihatnya sebagai musuh... Takut sangatkah Bumburing bahawa tidak ada "bahagian" untuk dia jika kerjasama ini berjaya? atau Bumburing takut dianak-tirikan oleh Anwar Ibrahim?

Rakyat Sabah perlu lihat sendiri betapa TAMAKnya pemimpin-pemimpin pembangkang hari ini yang hanya mementingkan pembahagian kerusi berbanding dengan agenda menumbangkan kerajaan BN. Sikap bertelagah dikalangan mereka adalah gambaran awal bahawa perjuangan mereka untuk membela nasib rakyat hanya dusta semata-mata. Misi utama mereka hanya untuk membolot jawatan-jawatan kabinet negeri dan persekutuan. Oleh sebab itu, Bumburing lebih dulu melenting ekoran tindakan SAPP yang cuba mewujudkan kerjasama dengan PR dikala Bumburing sedang mabuk membayangkan jawatan yang bakal diberikan oleh Anwar kepada beliau sekiranya PR berjaya merampas kerajaan.

Jika konflik dikalangan parti pembangkang sendiri tidak mampu diurus dengan baik, bagaimana parti yang kononnya alternatif terbaik untuk kerajaan BN ini mampu mengurus negara dengan baik?? Sebab itu rakyat sering diingatkan supaya tidak memperjudikan masa depan negara dengan meletakkan pemimpin-pemimpin bodoh, sombong dan tamak ini di Puterajaya. 

Jom layan pembangkang bertelagah sesama sendiri mengenai pembahagian kerusi;

KUALA LUMPUR — Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) seat talks with the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) have come to a temporary halt, PR ally Datuk Seri Wilfred Mojilip Bumburing has said, in yet another indicator that it may be a fractured opposition front that will face Barisan Nasional (BN) in Election 2013. 

On the outset, leaders from both sides have put on nonchalant fronts, each claiming that their “doors are always open” but the drama behind closed doors appears to be showing otherwise. Bumburing said SAPP and PR are finding it tough to accommodate each other on the seat allocation. 

According SAPP information chief Chong Pitt Fah, his party chief Datuk Yong Teck Lee had told a Sunday press conference in Sabah that seat talks with PR have yet to come to a deadlock. But when queried on the progress of the negotiation recently, ex-BN strongman Bumburing claimed the opposite. 

“In as far as SAPP [is] concerned, Pakatan [is having] difficulty in accommodating the number of seats that they demand and it seems that seat nego (negotiation) with them [has] come to a halt as of now,” Bumburing told The Malaysian Insider in an email interview over the weekend. 

The Malaysian Insider also understands that PR is unwilling to cede seats to the Sabah-based SAPP despite its claim to have greater appeal with locals in the east Malaysian state, insisting that theirs is a more Chinese-dominated party. 

“The strength of SAPP used to be limited in the town areas. Now the Chinese voters are putting their support to DAP to fight for their rights,” Bumburing said. “SAPP is mainly a Chinese-based party… so who would represent the KDMs (Kadazandusun and Murut)? Of course they claim they are a multiracial party…. but then again, their base is Chinese,” he said. 

Azmin said that SAPP’s first demand to contest in a whopping 40 of the state’s 60 seats was too unreasonable as it would leave the remaining opposition parties just 20 seats to share among themselves. “Initially, they wanted 40 seats, and that is not acceptable to PKR, because we have PAS, DAP, APS, PPPS… we must all work together. 

“Then they said they were willing to reduce their numbers but the final figure, the most they could concede was just about five seats… again, that is still very big,” he said. He acknowledged SAPP’s argument that the contest for Sabah should be among locals but said the “Sabah for Sabahans” war cry was “no longer applicable after over 50 years of independence”. 

“Even though PKR, DAP and PAS are national parties, we also include our friends in Sabah and Sarawak. “We believe in this autonomy for Sabah and Sarawak but that does not mean that PR cannot contest in Sabah — every single one of our candidates are Sabahans,” he pointed out. 

But observers believe that SAPP is an important component in PR’s struggle for Sabah as without the party on their side, the opposition’s contest could result in three- or even four-cornered fights, which would split the opposition vote and give BN its much needed edge. 

Another spanner in the works for PR’s struggle in the state is the newly-formed opposition party called STAR (State Reform Party) — a movement led by maverick politician Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, which has its roots in neighbouring Sarawak. 

Azmin said SAPP initially wanted to contest a whopping 40 of the state’s 60 seats, leaving the remaining opposition parties just 20 seats to share among themselves. 

“If SAPP and STAR stay outside of Pakatan there is some concern from the voters. How we know their strength and we believe that in the GE13, the voters will only have a choice between Pakatan and BN,” Bumburing said, agreeing. 

But he added that both parties would likely be on yet another collision course when trying to divide seats among themselves as either side believes they should take the lion’s share. “If both parties are unwilling to concede majority state seats to Pakatan, then I cannot see how they could concede to each other. 

“The respective leaders of SAPP and STAR are well known for being ambitious,” he said, referring to Jeffrey and Yong. - Read more in Free Malaysiakini