Pairin to invoke Article 6 of PBS constitution against saboteurs

KOTA KINABALU: Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan said he would invoke Article 6 of the party's constitution, in his capacity as Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) president, against any party leader or member, particularly at the division and branch levels, found to be involved in sabotaging the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidates in the just-concluded general election. 

He said this was deemed necessary as preliminary reports suggested that saboteurs were the main cause that contributed to the defeat of the party's candidates (in some areas) and the slim majority of the winning candidates. 

Pairin, who won both the Keningau Parlimentary and Tambuan state seats in Sunday's general election, said he was waiting for a full report on the matter before taking action against the saboteurs. 

"We must be firm on this matter...we will not tolerate saboteurs. Preliminary reports also suggest that those who have won with a slim majority could have garnered a bigger majority if not because of these saboteurs," he told reporters after chairing a meeting with the party's candidates, here today. 

Article 6 (ii) (a) of the constitution of PBS states that "any member who wittingly applies or declares himseft to be a member of another political party or otherwise acts or conducts himself howsoever which is likely to be detrimental to the interest of the party or any of its division shall forthwith cease to be a member of the party. 

In the May 5 general election, PBS, a state BN component party, was allocated five Parlimentary and 13 state seats. 

For the Parlimentary election, BN candidates from PBS captured Tawau, Kota Marudu, Batu Sapi and Keningau but lost to DAP in Kota Kinabalu. 

PBS suffered unexpected losses to Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) for the state seats of Tamparuli, Kadamaian, Matunggong, Inanam, Api-Api and Sri Tanjong but survived the opposition's onslaught in Tambunan, Kiulu, Tandek, Kundasang, Labuk, Melalap and Tanjung Aru. 

--BERNAMA