Kota Kinabalu: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) is a multi-racial party and this is clearly reflected by its top leadership and members, said its Vice President Dullie Marie.
He said SAPP was also ready to co-operate with Pakatan Rakyat (PR) to achieve the goal on the basis of facing Barisan Nasional (BN) in one-on-one battle.
However, PR must also understand SAPP's aspiration of wanting autonomy for the State.
"We strongly believe the change can only be made through local parties.
The implementation of 20 Points can't be made through outside but only by Sabahans.
"It is illogical to free ourselves from crocodile's mouth but ending up in tiger's belly. This scenario must be avoided for Sabah to move forward," said Dullie, who is also SAPP chief negotiator with DAP (on seats distribution).
He said the problem with leaders from the peninsula is that they always tend to look down upon leaders in Sabah with a colonist mentality.
Dullie said Lim's speech did not at all reflect the urgency on the need of co-operation among the opposition parties but pure arrogance.
"SAPP, as a local party, has been on the grounds and we don't believe in lip- service because Sabah is our home town, we know Sabah better.
Our willingness is well reflected by our response to the need of negotiation with PR.
"The negotiation is impossible unless we have the trust. SAPP will be sincere in its effort to have a formidable force with other opposition parties. It has to be made in the spirit of understanding and mutual respect," he said.
Dullie said Chan Foong Hin, Publicity Secretary of DAP, had recently urged both SAPP and United Borneo Front (UBF) to stop calling DAP Advisor Lim Kit Siang "arrogant" and "harsh" for issuing an ultimatum asking SAPP to join PR.
Dullie said Chan's statement was a camouflaged attack on SAPP by pretending to call on SAPP and UBF not to prolong the argument.
"His statement must have been prompted after reading newspapers and Internet about non-racial political struggle by SAPP for Sabahans," he said in a statement, Wednesday.
Dullie said being the chief negotiator from SAPP with DAP, he was there together with his SAPP colleagues.
"I also met DAP's Fred Fung at the Kaamatan function. Chan, mentioning SAPP as a Chinese-dominated party, is deadly wrong and it reveals how little they know about SAPP.
"The fact that SAPP is a multi-racial party is well reflected by its top leadership and members," he said.
Before SAPP left BN, about 60 per cent of its members were Bumiputras, Muslim and non-Muslims.
After SAPP left BN, it had undergone tremendous changes in its structure and the re-branding of the party was made with the inflows of new members, especially Bumiputras.
"The present structure of the organisation reflects SAPP's multi-racial concept," he said.
"We recognise the fact and the reality that only Pakatan Rakyat can march to Putrajaya by winning more of parliamentary seats.
PR wants to save Malaysia and in today's scenario PR can't get to Putrajaya without Sabah and Sarawak just like Barisan Nasional.
"Chan says PR wants to reinstall the autonomy to Sabah.
If that is really the case, I suggest PR start doing that by showing Sabah and its local parties and leaders with reasonable respect," he said.
Daily Express 3 June 2011
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