KOTA KINABALU, 13 Sept 2008: Sabah Progressive Party’s (SAPP) supreme council will hold a special meeting next Wednesday in view of the latest political developments and where the component party’s status in Barisan Nasional (BN) will also be discussed.
"We want to resolve any remaining doubts … on the status of SAPP in BN, whether we leave it to BN or whether we do it ourselves," its president Datuk Yong Teck Lee told reporters at The Formation of Malaysia and Constitutional Rights of the States of Sabah and Sarawak seminar, here today.
Asked if they would come up with a decision at the end of the meeting, he replied: "The meeting is at 2pm, so we should be issuing a media statement at about 5pm."
Meanwhile, Yong said the country had seen several political developments lately which could have major consequences.
"Among the latest developments is the Internal Security Act (ISA) being used against a member of parliament, a journalist and a blogger and (we want to discuss) whether this is the start of Ops Lalang 2.
"There is also the disturbing rise in racial tension which is damaging for national unity and affecting public confidence in BN," he added.
Ops Lalang in 1987 was the second biggest ISA swoop in Malaysian history after the May 13 riots, and the operation saw the arrest of 106 persons under the ISA and revoking of the publishing licences of two dailies, The Star and Sin Chew Jit Poh and two weeklies, The Sunday Star and Watan. That period saw mounting political tension with strong racial overtones. – Bernama
