A free world: Bersatu says that SAPP has no basis or right to prevent Perikatan from contesting in the next Sabah election.
KOTA KINABALU: A senior Bersatu leader in Sabah has played down the departure of Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) from Perikatan Nasional, saying the party’s role within Perikatan was minimal.
“SAPP’s leaving would have little or no impact on Sabah Perikatan. It is not an active component member as it is also a member of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), which is part of the unity government,” said Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee, the state Bersatu vice-president and Sabah Bersatu chairman.
However, he said SAPP had no basis or right to prevent Perikatan from contesting in the state election.
“What right or business does it have to stop us from contesting?” he added.
Kiandee was commenting on the announcement by SAPP president Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee that the party had withdrawn from Perikatan last month following the national coalition’s desire to contest in the coming state election.
Yong said national parties should stay out of Sabah and let local state-based parties to contest.
Kiandee said the Perikatan supreme council on Dec 9 had accepted SAPP’s decision to withdraw.
The Beluran MP added SAPP, which contested under the Perikatan symbol in the September 2020 state election, did not win any seat and they were given a nominated seat in the state assembly.
He said Bersatu, which contested under the Perikatan symbol, won 11 seats in that election and eventually formed the state government.
However, it lost power when its leaders defected to GRS after the 2022 general election.
SAPP, although a member of GRS, was the only Sabah-based party that remained with Perikatan. Sabah STAR left the opposition coalition to join the unity government through its membership in GRS in early 2023.
In PETALING JAYA, Perikatan secretary-general Datuk Seri Azmin Ali said the opposition coalition always placed Sabahans in state election, “but they will represent the national-based Perikatan.”
He said it is not right for SAPP to say that only local-based parties should contest the 2025 Sabah state election.
“We will not put any individuals from the peninsula to contest in Sabah. We have a pool of leaders in Sabah who will contest under the banner of Perikatan.
“Perikatan is a national coalition – you cannot separate Sabah from the peninsula and Sarawak. We are a national coalition and we represent all Malaysians, including Sabahans.
“On Dec 9, we had a Perikatan meeting and we reiterated that Perikatan will participate in the Sabah state election. We mandated that the Perikatan state committee initiate discussions and make preparations for the state election.
“The decision made in the meeting was that Perikatan will take part in Sabah elections.
“To suggest that the parties that should participate in the state election should only be local parties is not right,” said Azmin.
He added SAPP’s reasoning holds no water as the last state election showed Sabahans did not reject national-based parties.
