DAP keen on pact with SAPP in facing GE

The Democratic Action Party (DAP) is serious about having a meeting with the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) in an attempt to forge a common opposition front against the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition in the next general election.

Sabah DAP chief Jimmy Wong said the party had already formed a special committee to look into merging the opposition and hoped that SAPP would do the same as soon as possible.


“We are very serious about this and I hope DAP representatives can meet SAPP's soon ... the earlier the better. DAP is always open for discussions,” he told Bernama today in the foyer of the State Legislative Assembly in Kota Kinabalu.

Wong said that based upon the results of the Batu Sapi parliamentary by-election and the Sarawak elections, the opposition parties would be in a better position to mount a challenge against the mighty BN if they were united.

“Of course, there are bound to be obstacles here and there, but I hope it will become a reality in Sabah this time around. I believe SAPP, too, does not want to see an opposition that is not unified,” he said.

Furthermore, SAPP information chief Chong Pit Fah (left) was quoted as saying last week that the party was waiting for the Pakatan Rakyat central leadership to negotiate seat allocations among the opposition parties in Sabah.

Chong was responding to a statement by Sabah DAP secretary Edwin Bosi calling for closer cooperation between opposition parties in Sabah to avoid the disagreements that scuttled chances of a better showing by the Pakatan coalition in the recent Sarawak state election.

Meanwhile, Wong said the DAP's motion to debate the state government's stand over the proposed establishment of a royal commission of inquiry to review issues surrounding illegal immigrants was rejected by the speaker on the grounds that it was not an urgent matter.

- Bernama