LDP will not be Musa’s ‘yes man’

Sabah Barisan Nasional's whipping boy, LDP, says it's duty-bound to 'give effect' to the voices of the voters and cannot remain silent.

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has come under much flak for its criticism of Chief Minister Musa Aman, has denied it was out to oust Musa.


“LDP was only highlighting its concern that the same wind of change in Sarawak would eventually blow over to Sabah, given the similarity of the current political scenarios between Sarawak and Sabah.

“We are not creating trouble with Barisan Nasional (BN) or trying to topple Musa,” LDP Youth legal and political bureau chief, Tsang Hieng Yee, said.

He said that as far as LDP is concerned, “they have at all times made statements in good faith”.

“If the BN government does not respond to these grievances of the community, particularly the Chinese community, the people will vote for the opposition.

“It is imperative that the BN government not let what happened in Sarawak to happen in Sabah because this will promote racial politics,” he said, adding that there should not be any “double standard”.

Tsang said that LDP was duty-bound to “give effect” to the voices of the minority groups.

“The people voted for us to be their representatives. We shall not betray their trust, even at the cost of speaking the truth and hurting some quarters,” he said.

“Addressing the truth of a matter is always bitter but it still has to be done. We are not prejudiced against anyone, ” he added.

Agreeing to disagree

Tsang said LDP was fully aware that there were people who disagreed with the party and was prepared to accept their views.

“We respect their views as everybody is entitled to their opinion,” he said.

“What is the value of LDP’s existence if it is merely a ‘Yes Man’,” said Tsang who is also a supreme council member.

He was responding to criticisms against the party following recent remarks made by its deputy president Chin Su Phin regarding Musa’s leadership.

“LDP’s stance should not be misunderstood in anyway whatsoever. We are a component party of BN now and will always be.

“LDP believes that in a multiracial society like Malaysia, there cannot be racial politics. It is suicide,” Tsang said, adding that Musa’s achievement and contribution to Sabah’s progress and developement in the last 10 years could not be denied.

Earlier this month, LDP president VK Liew said the party had no intention of remaining quiet despite being demoted to the sidelines by the Musa administration.

Much to the party’s shock, Musa dismissed LDP’s loyalty and seniority in the coalition and appointed Parti Bersatu Sabah’s (PBS) Dr Yee Moh Chai to be deputy chief minsiter.

Already holding a similar position is PBS president Joseph Pairin Kitingan.

Musa has no time for petty squabbles
Meanwhile Musa said he has only one thing to concentrate on at the moment – implementing development programmes for the people.

He said he would not engage in entertaining some quarters’ personal agenda which would only slow down the government’s work for the people.

“I do not wish to engage in petty squabbles. There is still a lot of work to be done in such a short period of time.

“But I thank all the support given to me. I just feel that entertaining such issues will not benefit the people,” he told reporters after his winding-up speech at the Sabah State Legislative Assembly meeting, here, today.

Musa was asked by reporters to react to Su Phin’s comment last week that the recent Sarawak state election results showed BN failure to realise the needs of the people, especially the Chinese community.

Musa also advised all state assemblymen to continue going down to the ground, and listen to the people’s problems and help solve them