Sabah DCM opts for multiracial Gerakan

Partyless former Sabah LDP leader Peter Pang is said to have found new home with peninsula based Gerakan.

KUALA LUMPUR: Sabah deputy chief minister Peter Pang En Yin, who is currently partyless after leaving Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) last September, is set to make peninsula-based Gerakan his political flagship.

According to a reliable source, he is expected to make the announcement in Sandakan tomorrow.

Pang, 51, who also holds the portfolio of state youth and sports minister, left LDP after its deputy president Chin Su Phin declared that the party leadership could no longer work with Chief Minister Musa Aman, who is also the state Barisan Nasional chairman.

He offered to quit both his cabinet posts after his resignation but was rewarded by Musa for his support and he retained both portfolios.

The source said that one of the main reasons behind Pang choosing Gerakan to advance his political career, is due to Gerakan’s multiracial set up which suits his political aspiration and struggle.

Pang’s current constituency – Karamunting – also comprises a mixed community.

Pang won the Karamunting constituency under the LDP ticket in the last general election. He beat independent candidate Sak Cheong Yu by a 3,362-vote majority.

Easy-going politician

Karamunting is one of two state assembly constituencies under the Batu Sapi parliamnetary constiteuncy. The other state seat is Sekong.

The source said the other main consideration that had influenced Pang’s decision was his rapport with Tanjung Papat state assemblyman Raymond Tan Shu Kiah and Elopura representative Au Kum Wah. Tan is Gerakan deputy president.

Both Tan and Au were former Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) leaders who left the party after it pulled out from the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition in September 2008.

Pang is also said to be friendly with Gerakan Sabah chief, Gordon Leong, who is also from Sandakan.

His imminent move is considered a shot-in-the-arm for Gerakan which suffered a major defeat in the last general election.

Gerakan will now have an additional full minister and a DCM in Sabah.

Whether this will be seen as positive by the Sabah-centric electorate is yet to be established.

Before joining active politics, Pang, said to be an easy-going person, was a businessman with businesses in oil palm plantations and the hotel industry. - FMT