BN leaders write off PKR Sabah

Sabah Barisan Nasional leaders are convinced that crisis-ridden state PKR is crumbling.

KOTA KINABALU: The exodus of senior PKR leaders and members has sealed the opposition party’s fate in Sabah, according to leaders in the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.

Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) president Joseph Pairin Kitingan said while it was anybody’s guess why PKR leaders were leaving their party, it was obvious that they have lost confidence in the leadership of their own party.

Pairin, who is also Deputy Chief Minister, said that with the opposition party continuing to slip deeper into crisis and the general election expected to be held soon, many of its followers appeared to be thinking about their own political future and decided to join BN.

“The leaders and members of PKR have decided to leave their own party and prefer to be with the BN, and this is the conclusion that obviously must be seen by members of the public,” said Pairin.

Pairin, who was chief minister for nine years until PBS was toppled from power by BN in 1994 following the exodus of its elected leaders to BN, was among several BN leaders who voiced their views in the wake of former Sabah PKR chief Pajudin Nordin’s application to join Umno.

Pajudin’s resignation from PKR came barely a month after his controversial appointment as PKR Sabah chief by the party leadership.

Late last year, former PKR vice-president Jeffrey Kitingan, who is Pairin’s younger brother, also quit PKR. His resignation sparked a mass pullout by Kadazandusun and Murut leaders from the opposition party.

Jeffrey went on to form the United Borneo Front (UBF).

No credible leaders

Last weekend, PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail flew into the state and announced she had taken over the helm of the party’s state administration.

She immediately announced the setting up of a Sabah presidential council. The move is seen by leaders from the ruling BN as a “shadow cabinet” in view of the widespread talk about an impending snap general election.

According to another Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Yahya Hussin, the PKR central leadership has been facing difficulties in finding good leaders and gaining the support of the people of Sabah.

Yahya, who is also the Sabah Umno liaison secretary, said this was evident as Wan Azizah herself had to take over the party’s leadership in Sabah.

“Why would anyone want to join at the state level when the party is facing problems and is unstable at the national level?

“It is a clear sign that the party has been rejected. It’s a clear writing on the wall that needs no explanation,” said Yahya.

Other BN leaders in Sabah, when contacted, also expressed similar views, contending that PKR has found itself in deep trouble in Sabah because it no longer has any credible leaders with support from the grassroots.

No future in opposition

Puteri Umno Malaysia chief Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin described Azizah’s decision in setting up a presidential council as an attempt to strengthen its position in Sabah.

Rosnah, who is Deputy Health Minister, said the move to set up the presidential council to fill up the leadership void in Sabah showed that the party’s leadership pool in the state was drying up fast with the exit of its leaders and members.

This was not the case when PKR first spread its wings to Sabah some years ago; now the party no longer appears to have the sympathy and support of Sabahans, she said.

“Although the national leaders have claimed there is no internal crisis, dissatisfaction among their members and leaders is evident as they resign one by one. If the crisis in Sabah PKR continues to worsen, I would not be surprised if more resign,” she said.

United Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) treasurer-general, Marcus Mojigoh, said PKR leaders were abandoning the party because they have come to realise that they have no future in the opposition.

“PKR is falling apart… how can you expect the party to run the country? Every leader appointed is led by the nose and must be subservient to (de facto leader) Anwar (Ibrahim). Who wants that? The people are not stupid.

The “mass migration” from PKR to BN means that “PKR can only dream of governing Sabah and has desperately set up the presidential council as a shadow cabinet”, he said.

Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) president Liew Vui Keong, who is also Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, ssid that the frequent changes of top leadership in Sabah PKR in the last few months was an indication that the party is crumbling. -FMT