Is APS eating away into STAR turf?

Wilfred Bumburing's APS which Anwar Ibrahim tasked to garner support for the opposition from the natives is confident that the tide is turning.

KOTA KINABALU: Anwar Ibrahim may be a happier man these days with the positive sounds coming out of Sabah.

Going by what Angkatan Perubahan Sabah (APS) speakers are saying at each of its roadshows held around the state since its formation on July 29, Pakatan Rakyat is on a solid footing and the Barisan Nasional’s fixed deposit state is very much in play in the coming general election.

APS headed by Tuaran MP Wilfred Bumburing which has been tasked by Anwar to garner support for the opposition, especially from the natives is confident that it has begun swinging support for the opposition coalition in Kadazandusun and Murut majority constituencies in the state.

Bumburing, a former senior BN leader, has worked hard to established his pro-Pakatan body in every native-majority constituency and his supporters believe they are gaining strength even among the non-Bumiputera Sabahans.

“We are moving towards a change for the better … not just for the restoration of Sabah’s sovereignty as an independent state within the Federation of Malaysia, but an overall change in the whole of Malaysia,” APS deputy secretary-general Benson Inggam told FMT today.

He said that APS subscribed to a two-party political system and in taking over Putrajaya which only a Pakatan-led opposition grouping would be in a position to achieve.

Inggam, who heads APS’ coordinating committee for Kinabatangan, added that any change in the overall administration and functioning of the government in the context of what Sabah wants requires that the control of parliament changes hands.

He hit out at the hardline stance taken by State Reform Party (STAR) which has pledged to do whatever it takes, even cooperate with the Barisan Nasional ruling coalition if need be to get what it wants – autonomy for Sabah.

“The doctrine of self-determination being propagated by STAR is in fact not even one of the 20-Points agreement which was formulated by the Cobbold Commission and became part and parcel of the Malaysia Agreement 1963,” he said.

“There are other elements and spirit in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 which provided for guarantees and protection for Sabah as an independent state within Malaysia and that is what we believe and that is what we are struggling for in APS,” he added.

Ask Jeffrey about Daim?

APS, as a grouping, is prioritising the restorations of the rights of the indigenous people of Sabah as Malaysian citizen and the restorations of our state’s rights within the Federation based on the spirit of the Malaysia Agreement 1963.

Inggam also chided the Jeffrey Kitingan-led Sarawak-registered party for working to disunite the community with their personal attacks, calling its youth chief, Azroy Hasmin Abdullah, a young former schoolteacher, a “green horn” in Sabah politics for tagging APS and Bumburing as “good for Tamparuli and Tuaran only”.

Bumburing, who until July 29, was deputy president of BN’s component United Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation deputy president, was once the assemblyman for Tamparuli.

Tamparuli is one of the three state seats under the Tuaran parliamentary constituency. The other two being Sulaman and Kiulu, both KDM-majority areas.

On Azroy’s demand for APS to furnish proof about its charge that Jeffrey had met Umno’s Tun Daim Zainuddin, Inggam said: “This meeting is the talk of the town even in the eastern part of Sabah.

“What the STAR youth should do is to consult his political master and ask him about this meeting.”