KOTA KINABALU, 19 June 2009: The Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) is positive about talks with Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) on preparations for the next general election, said its president Datuk Yong Teck Lee.
He said the most sensible part of the preparations was to agree that the election should be a one-to-one contest against the might of the Barisan Nasional (BN) machinery.
“This is because we must not underestimate the willpower of the BN and Umno to stay in power at all costs and using all tricks.
“This was conveyed during a lunch meeting with PKR state liaison chairperson for Sabah Azmin Ali this afternoon with myself and deputy president Datuk Eric Majimbun from SAPP,” he said in a statement here today.
Yesterday, Azmin said SAPP should be part of the opposition in preparing for the next state election.
Yong said the SAPP Supreme Council had at its meeting on 13 June identified three main challenges to an opposition victory. These included money politics, illegal immigrants turning out as voters, and the use of phantom votes and postal ballots in marginal constituencies, he said.
Other relevant concerns were the lack of a common platform on both national and Sabah issues among the opposition parties and SAPP, such as autonomy for Sabah, the PAS-Umno unity talks, the vastly divergent ideologies of PAS and the DAP on nation-building issues, and PAS’s claim to the prime ministership, he said. — Bernama
