Kota Kinabalu: Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) President Datuk Chin Su Phin advised young voters to be cautious with information circulating on social media, noting that about 50 per cent of online content is fake news.
“If they believe fake news, it becomes a problem,” he said.
“Young people must be careful because fake news spreads very fast, and the government cannot control it. There’s no specific law to dealwith fake news, and that’s a problem.”Chin said Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) made the right decision to continue working with the Pakatan Harapan (PH)-led Federal Government to ensure political stability and development continuity for Sabah.
“We have to maintain the ruling parties like GRS to continue forming the State Government so that more development could benefit the people.
“We can see the five-year good track record of GRS in developing Sabah towards excellence while fostering good ties with the present Federal government.
“The good ties between State and Federal government (PH) is vital and necessary because it has clearly benefitted Sabah in many ways such as the Commercial Collaboration Agreement (CCA) with Petronas, including 25 per cent state in the Samur project and 50 per cent in Samarang oil platform at Sabah waters, among others.
“Hence, it would be much better to vote for GRS-PH rather than change from one government to another which will be no real change,” he said.
At the moment, Chin said the Federal Government is still under PH and led by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
“Even if you form a new State Government, it doesn’t mean you can suddenly be like Sarawak and demand everything — that won’t happen,” he said.
Commenting on grassroots sentiment, Chin acknowledged that some voters were uncomfortable with Malaya-based parties but he said GRS’ cooperation with PH remained important for Sabah’s progress.
“It’s not that we don’t want to go solo. We must understand the situation — the Federal Government is still under PH, and it will likely remain that way for the next two and a half years,” he said.
He said maintaining good relations with the Federal Government was more beneficial than political confrontation.
“If GRS quarrels with the Federal Government, what can we gain? It’s better to cooperate and work together for the people,” he said.
He said the focus should instead be on the next Parliamentary Election in about two and a half years, where Sabah parties could aim for stronger representation.
“If we can get 90 per cent of the seats in Parliament, then we can talk about demanding like Sarawak — but not right now,” he added.
Chin also questioned Warisan’s stand on contesting solo, saying it is unrealistic for any Sabah-based party to ignore the role of the Federal Government.
“Like it or not, Warisan keeps saying they don’t need the Federal Government, but in reality, we still depend on it,” he said.