WHILE they share a common objective of wanting to topple the Barisan Nasional, the opposition in Sabah appears to be in disagreement on a single candidate policy to take on the ruling coalition.
Describing DAP as "arrogant and super-confident" by insisting on going it alone and refusing to tell the truth that negotiations between Pakatan and SAPP had taken place, Jaafar said DAP must not gloat over their so-called success in Sarawak's April state election last year because overall Pakatan failed miserably to topple the BN state Government.
By Joniston Bangkuai, New Straits Times
Over the last two weeks, peninsula and local-based opposition leaders have been publicly engaged in a war of words on the crucial point of working out an understanding on seats the respective parties should contest to avoid a split in votes against the BN.
The mud-slinging began when DAP national vice-chairman Tan Kok Wai denied reports that Pakatan Rakyat had reached a consensus on the allocation of seats with local-based Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP).
Denying that there had been discussions between Pakatan parties and SAPP, the Cheras MP was reported to have said that Pakatan would contest in all the 60 state seats and 25 parliamentary seats in Sabah and would not talk to SAPP.
This prompted SAPP to issue a series of strongly-worded statements, accusing DAP and Pakatan of, among others, insulting the intelligence of Sabahans and lying that there had been no discussions between them on the issue of seat allocation.
"It seems that Tan Kok Wai just flew in to Sabah and destroyed whatever progress has been made between SAPP and Pakatan, especially with Parti Keadilan Rakyat," said SAPP vice-president Jaafar Ismail.
Describing DAP as "arrogant and super-confident" by insisting on going it alone and refusing to tell the truth that negotiations between Pakatan and SAPP had taken place, Jaafar said DAP must not gloat over their so-called success in Sarawak's April state election last year because overall Pakatan failed miserably to topple the BN state Government.
As DAP and SAPP were trading insults, the State Reform Party (Star) Sabah chapter waded in by telling peninsula-based parties to leave Sabah politics to the local-based parties.
Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan-led Star Sabah's view smacked of double standards as his party is Sarawak-based and as such should also stay away from Sabah.
This perhaps illustrates that the opposition, in their eagerness and desperate hope of wresting power from the BN, have become confused.
It is unlikely the opposition parties in Sabah will ever come to a consensus on one-on-one contests with the BN for the obvious reason that each one of them think they are superior to the others.
Their differing agenda, with regards to how Sabah should be administered if they ever come to power, is another obstacle to the opposition's hope of forging a partnership. While the local opposition parties are clamouring for greater autonomy, their peninsula-based counterparts think otherwise.
But to be fair, issues related to distribution of seats have always been a contentious matter any coalition of parties will have to deal with in every general election, and the BN is no exception.
There have been some rumblings in the state BN, too, with some component parties claiming to be more suited and in a better position to win certain seats, especially the two parliamentary and four state seats won by SAPP in the 2008 elections.
SAPP, which is headed by former chief minister Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee, had won the seats under the BN banner, but it ditched the coalition soon after the last election, citing loss of confidence in the leadership of then prime minister Datuk Seri (now Tun) Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
However, as reasoned out by chief minister and state BN chief Datuk Seri Musa Aman, a tussle for seats is not something unusual and that BN component parties in Sabah are known to toe the line once a decision was made.
The high level of political maturity and tolerance among the Sabah BN component parties under Musa's able and pragmatic leadership would see them coming together as a united force when it comes to the crunch.
The mud-slinging began when DAP national vice-chairman Tan Kok Wai denied reports that Pakatan Rakyat had reached a consensus on the allocation of seats with local-based Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP).
Denying that there had been discussions between Pakatan parties and SAPP, the Cheras MP was reported to have said that Pakatan would contest in all the 60 state seats and 25 parliamentary seats in Sabah and would not talk to SAPP.
This prompted SAPP to issue a series of strongly-worded statements, accusing DAP and Pakatan of, among others, insulting the intelligence of Sabahans and lying that there had been no discussions between them on the issue of seat allocation.
"It seems that Tan Kok Wai just flew in to Sabah and destroyed whatever progress has been made between SAPP and Pakatan, especially with Parti Keadilan Rakyat," said SAPP vice-president Jaafar Ismail.
Describing DAP as "arrogant and super-confident" by insisting on going it alone and refusing to tell the truth that negotiations between Pakatan and SAPP had taken place, Jaafar said DAP must not gloat over their so-called success in Sarawak's April state election last year because overall Pakatan failed miserably to topple the BN state Government.
As DAP and SAPP were trading insults, the State Reform Party (Star) Sabah chapter waded in by telling peninsula-based parties to leave Sabah politics to the local-based parties.
Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan-led Star Sabah's view smacked of double standards as his party is Sarawak-based and as such should also stay away from Sabah.
This perhaps illustrates that the opposition, in their eagerness and desperate hope of wresting power from the BN, have become confused.
It is unlikely the opposition parties in Sabah will ever come to a consensus on one-on-one contests with the BN for the obvious reason that each one of them think they are superior to the others.
Their differing agenda, with regards to how Sabah should be administered if they ever come to power, is another obstacle to the opposition's hope of forging a partnership. While the local opposition parties are clamouring for greater autonomy, their peninsula-based counterparts think otherwise.
But to be fair, issues related to distribution of seats have always been a contentious matter any coalition of parties will have to deal with in every general election, and the BN is no exception.
There have been some rumblings in the state BN, too, with some component parties claiming to be more suited and in a better position to win certain seats, especially the two parliamentary and four state seats won by SAPP in the 2008 elections.
SAPP, which is headed by former chief minister Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee, had won the seats under the BN banner, but it ditched the coalition soon after the last election, citing loss of confidence in the leadership of then prime minister Datuk Seri (now Tun) Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
However, as reasoned out by chief minister and state BN chief Datuk Seri Musa Aman, a tussle for seats is not something unusual and that BN component parties in Sabah are known to toe the line once a decision was made.
The high level of political maturity and tolerance among the Sabah BN component parties under Musa's able and pragmatic leadership would see them coming together as a united force when it comes to the crunch.
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