Kota Kinabalu: Sabah and Sarawak will lose all bargaining power if peninsula parties win enough seats to form government alone, said SAPP President Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee.
“The worst-case scenario for Sabah and Sarawak is when party Malaya wins enough seats to form a government on its own,” he told a media conference during the Sabah Progressive Party Congress here, Sunday.
“If that happens, we have lost all bargaining power. That is why we must make sure all their candidates in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan lose,” he said.
He said such a bloc would no longer need Sabah and Sarawak MPs. Otherwise, he said, they would have to bring in both states on election night.
“I do not think the Parliament election will come so fast. It may go full term until the end of 2027,” he said when asked when the general election would be held. “Further realignment of national politics can still happen in the next few months,” he said, adding that Parliament first sat in December 2022, so it can technically be dissolved in December 2027 with polls in January 2028.
He pointed to Federal uncertainty, the cost of living and weak business in Peninsular Malaysia.
“SAPP will align with the potential Prime Minister who is more supportive of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and what Sabah wants to fight for.
“Now everybody wants Sabah and Sarawak, so they keep saying nice things. But when the time comes, will they really deliver? he said.
He said some political elites in Peninsular Malaysia discuss how to escape MA63, citing Zaid Ibrahim’s view that Peninsular politicians could simply ignore it.
“Ideally Sabah should be strengthening its local parties. That is consistent with the bargaining after the Parliament election.
“We cannot contribute to parti Malaya winning seats in Sabah and Sarawak that give them a simple majority,” he said, naming GRS as a local party in government and Warisan in opposition, with Star and SAPP among the others.
He said SAPP should align with local parties only.
“In 1990, Dr Mahathir said in Labuan, ‘We only need Sabah and Sarawak for the two-thirds.’ It is on the record. This is a very sad fact,” he said.
He said Dr Mahathir, then Prime Minister and Barisan Nasional chairman, spoke after a Sabah visit while campaigning against an independent candidate.
He said PN and BN are already discussing a Peninsular bloc, which would leave Sabah and Sarawak with little bargaining power.
On another note, he said SAPP may contest the next general election and will fight on issues rather than alignment.
“As a party, we can consider contesting and then the question is where and whether we can win.
“Are we fighting on issues, not on alignment? Uncertainty gives a chance to small, tight-knit parties like us,” he said.
He said voters who reject Madani, GRS, PKR and PH go to Warisan, leaving SAPP neither here nor there, pointing out that Federal and Sabah politics keep changing.
“Dr Jeffrey’s struggle has never changed, and it is Sabah rights. His struggle is the same as mine. Dr Jeffrey is a brand, whether you like it or not,” he said when asked whether SAPP would follow Star towards Warisan.
He said Dr Jeffrey Kitingan stayed with Sabah rights in PBS, BN, Akar, Star and now with Warisan.
“Star has a better chance of winning seats than SAPP.
“The Star and Warisan pact benefits Warisan more than Star. If Datuk Seri Shafie tells Warisan people to vote, they will vote, but Star people do not necessarily follow Dr Jeffrey,” he said.
He said Star attended the Warisan congress, where Shafie announced 26 seats.
“Would Dr Jeffrey contest under the Star or Warisan symbol? He (Jeffrey) must consider what happened in Keningau,” he said.
