Alliance of mosquito parties with big brother cause of disunity – Jeffrey

(The Borneo Post) - TELUPID: Malaysia’s political mess is due to diverging views of “mosquito” parties within the two alliances, according to Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan.

In his response to a supporter’s question on why the Sabah State Government has failed to capitalise on their “fixed deposit” position of strength, the Borneo Heritage Foundation’s United Borneo Front (UBF) committee chairman replied that the federal powers, whether it be under Umno or PKR/PR, will always be more powerful because “they have successfully put into practice the divide and rule concept in Sabah.

“For as long as Umno holds the fort in Sabah, our leaders will sing the same tune even if some do not agree with the way things are run in this country. It will be no different with PKR/PR,” he told a crowd of over 500 people at a Borneo Tea Party in Kampung Liningkung here on Sunday.

Jeffrey added, “If our Sabah leaders could rise above party politics and rally together towards the common agenda of speaking and acting in one voice for the greater welfare of the state they represent, we could actually resolve our problems. The leaders of every political party in Sabah have had their time and we’ve seen the same faces for decades. They have been silenced by their big brother in the alliance and for fear of being kicked out of an alliance they are willing to sing the chorus of the Federal powers even if the song is in conflict with our battle cry in Sabah.

“Where are all the political leaders of Sabah, who should by now come out in full force to support Tan Sri Bernard Dompok in his call for the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on the illegal immigrant issue? They should stand up and be counted. As an NGO, the UBF supports his call and stands with him and UPKO on this issue.”

Jeffrey also suggested that politics can only be healthy in this country if parties stood on their own without alliances so that people can identify with issues through manifestoes instead of uniting through the polarisation of race and religious based politics.

“Our country needs to be politically mature and adopt the same concept as the US, Australia and UK. The mosquito parties of Sabah and Sarawak should unite as one party and democratically elect one common leader to stand as equals against the big brother in the ruling government and the opposition.

“The alliances have done nothing but weaken our state leaders and silenced them into submission. In this current political climate, this is no longer acceptable. This is why at the beginning of our struggle, the UBF had made a call for the unity of all Sabah and Sarawak political parties to form a third force. If an alliance doesn’t work, then we should all converge and form the third giant political party in this country,” he said.

Jeffrey, meanwhile, called to allow natives to be given the power and democratic rights as a community to decide how to develop native customary rights (NCR) lands.

“These lands should not be given to companies or government agencies for joint venture developments nor should the idea of fast tracking development on NCR lands be imposed on natives.

“The government could take on an advisory role and encourage the community to understand the terms of fast tracking but it should not be imposed against their will. I have received complaints that the decision rests with the director of Land and Survey. This needs to be clarified as the director should not be empowered to act arbitrarily when it should rightfully be a community’s decision,” he said.

Jeffrey added that the government must set clear guidelines and develop an effective mechanism to manage and decide on native entitlements and inheritances based on NCR and custom.

“There have been complaints that civil servants are exempt from NCR and this is something which must be clarified by the government as it makes no sense to exclude their descendants’ rights to inheritance.

“Every member of the community should be entitled to their own communal lands provided they are natives. This is a very serious and important issue for natives and one that should not be dismissed by any political leader in Sabah. We must resolve this issue with haste.”