DESAH FORUM TO BE CALLED OFF

By : RONNIE KLASSEN

DEMOKRASI Sabah (DESAH) today announced that its forum scheduled to be held on 7 September, 2012 (today) had to be called off due to circumstances beyond its control. The forum would have featured top leaders of the opposition in the persons of Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Lim Kit Siang of the Democratic Action Party(DAP), Datuk Yong Teck Lee of Parti Maju Sabah(SAPP) and Datuk Dr. Jeffery Kitingan of STAR, Sabah Chapter.

The objective of the forum was to express their unity and support for one-to-one contests against the Barisan Nasional.

DESAH feels that if the Opposition enters the election on a free for all basis, its chances of winning will be greatly reduced as indicated by past experiences. This kind of lessons from history should not be easily forgotten. It still lingers in the minds of Sabahans what transpired at the 12th.General Elections, when PKR and DAP contested against each other. The Political landscape has changed over the last 4 years; the key words now are ‘consolidate’ and ‘solidify’.

DESAH Deputy Chairman cum Organizing Chairman for the event, Ronnie Klassen made the announcement at a press conference attended by DESAH committee members including its Chairman, Tan Sri Simon Sipaun. Ronnie further added that DESAH has been trying to articulate the wishes of the people - that they would like to see one-to-one contests as what happened in the Peninsula during the 12th General Election in March 2008. By and large people want CHANGE not for its own sake but for the sake of improving the situation.

DESAH wishes to express and record its gratitude and appreciation to Datuk Yong Teck Lee and Datuk Dr. Jeffery Kitingan for their very encouraging and positive response to its invitation to participate in the forum. Lim Kit Siang had also indicated his support but unfortunately unable to make it due to a "commitment" made earlier. Ronnie pointed out that DESAH had yet to hear from Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim or his men which is rather puzzling and unexpected.

DESAH believes that behind the scene negotiations among the opposition parties in Sabah is ongoing and the chances of one-to-one contests are bright, however, sincerity among the Opposition Parties must be seen as happening.

Ronnie also expressed his gratitude to the coalition of NGO's who were in full support of DESAH's objectives and pledged that DESAH will continue to pursue and play the facilitator role to ensure one-to-one contests.