KOTA KINABALU, 6 April 2009: Sabah Progressive Party’s (SAPP) two assemblypersons and two members of parliament will move an emergency motion to compel the Federal Government to ensure the Philippines drops its claim on Sabah.
Luyang and Likas assemblypersons Melanie Chia and Datuk Liew Teck Chan, as well as Sepanggar and Tawau members of parliament Datuk Eric Majimbun and Datuk Chua Soon Bui will move the motion at the next sitting.
The state legislative assembly sitting starts on 16 April.
“The move is necessary to determine Sabah’s status,” the four said in a joint statement here today.
They said the move was vital, following the arrest of a man who claimed to be the descendent of the Sultan of Sulu, in Lahad Datu a few days ago for burning Sabah flags during an illegal assembly.
Also detained at the assembly were the man’s 11 other accomplices.
“We do not know their motive, but the status of the leader who claimed to be a descendent of the Sultan of Sulu is a cause for concern,” the four SAPP leaders said.
They said the influx of illegal immigrants into Sabah, and their subsequent arrest and difficulty in returning to their homeland due to technical hitches, might lead them to cause disturbances here.
According to them, thousands of illegal immigrants, especially Filipinos, were placed at temporary detention centres but could not be repatriated because of some technicalities. This has resulted in some causing riots.
The four said it was understood that former Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos had some time ago, stated that his country has dropped its claims on Sabah.
The Malaysians in Sabah are concerned when a foreign wire reported last year that current Philippines President Gloria Arroyo Macapagal had never made any stand whether to recognise Marcos’ statement or otherwise.
The SAPP leaders further said that Sabah’s status was very crucial as it would make all Malaysians residing in this state at ease if the claims had really been dropped.
On 4 April, the Lahad Datu police arrested 12 people, including a man who claimed to be a descendent of the Sultan of Sulu, for burning a few state flags. — Bernama
OCSunny says
Remember that about 30 years ago, the ratio of Kadazan, Malays and Chinese [Malaysians] was 40:40:20. It has changed over the years and (correct me if I am wrong) it is now 55:33:12. So the balance of political power is in favour of Umno and they will forever control the state of Sabah like they did in Peninsula Malaysia. The combination of Kadazan and Chinese [Malaysians] is no longer a force to be reckoned with. Those days PBS could be in power with the support of the Chinese [Malaysian] voters but not now!
The Sabahans, they can tell you how the above came about. Unfortunately, the Kadazan and the Chinese [Malaysians] have themselves to blame. Do you think this situation came about naturally? A lot of Indonesians/Fillipinos have become Malaysians!?! That seems to be the most logical answer to the unexpected boom in Sabah’s population!
Sabahans must wake up and fight for their rights. What happen to last year’s strong resentment regarding illegal immigrants in Sabah and Najib heading the committee to tackle the illegal and legal immigrants problem?