KOTA KINABALU: Datuk Ewon Benedick vows that he will not align himself or his party with any political alliance or government that is into religious and racial extremism.
"So long as I am the president of Upko (which is a Pakatan Harapan component), I will never support a political or government bloc that has an extreme racial and religious agenda.
"As a multi-racial party which has the support of Orang Asal (indigenous people), I want Upko to reject this political ideology.
"We also condemn the statements by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, which are getting more extreme by the day and could destroy the country," said the Penampang MP during the party’s National Convention in Manggatal near here on Saturday (Sept 9).
Making his first policy speech since taking over as president from Datuk Wilfred Madius Tangau in January, Benedick rallied party members to instead continue backing the Federal unity government’s reform agenda under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
He said the agenda, among others, involved improvement of the nation’s economic structure, separating the functions of the Attorney General (AG) and Public Prosecutor (PP), a political funding law as well as laws to address 3R (race, religion and royal institution) issues.
"Upko supports the economic reforms initiated by the Prime Minister as highlighted in the launch of the Madani Economic Framework where the government has set a vision to raise the ceiling in order to improve the economy including introducing a progressive wage policy for the private sector and improving the wages of the public service sector.
"The government has also discussed the agenda of separating the functions of the AG and the PP. Upko wants this reform to be implemented during the term of the Prime Minister's leadership.
"This reform agenda also includes legislation to deal with 3R issues. Personally, I agree that the Sedition Act should be maintained to deal with issues involving Royal institutions, while new legislation should be enacted to deal with issues involving race and religion.
"Upko also supports the drafting of the Political Funding Act so that the democratic governance of the country through party activities will be better guided,” said the Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister.
On the Sabah state election, Benedick said Upko must win more seats in the coming polls than it did in the Sept 26, 2020, snap state election where it won only one of 12 seats contested - Kadamaian, which Benedick contested.
He said, however, that success in the seats to be contested depended on the leadership and machinery in the respective areas.
"We must defend Kadamaian and win in other areas. This means Upko must and should contest more seats in the coming state election.
"I want to give an indicator to all who aspire to become candidates and win support from the people - make Kadamaian your inspiration and motivation," he said.
Benedick said Kadamaian, which comes under the Kota Belud parliamentary area, became Upko’s stronghold due to the approach and creativity of the leadership there.
Upko is part of the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS)-led state government together with its other Pakatan colleagues DAP and PKR.
