Upko president betrayed pre-GE14 pact, says PBS man

SABAH POLLS | Wilfred Madius Tangau had betrayed the "Misompuru Pact" between three of Sabah's main political parties when he joined the Warisan state government, according to Kiulu assemblyperson Joniston Bangkuai.

Joniston (above), who is the information chief for Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), reportedly said this yesterday when expressing his disappointment with the president of the United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (Upko).

He said Madius took Upko out from the BN coalition to form an alliance with Warisan after BN lost in the 14th general election, despite the Misompuru Pact being Madius' idea.

Misompuru is the Kadazan-Dusun word for unity.

"In the last general election, we campaigned together under the ‘Misompuru Bersatu’ (unity) tagline.

"In fact, it was his suggestion that the three main Kadazan-Dusun-Murut parties – Upko, PBS, and PBRS (Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah) – form an official pact as a united front to face the election," Joniston said.

He said that as a result of the pact, a presidential council comprising presidents of the three parties was set up, resulting in their electoral victory.

"But, sadly after the election, suddenly he left us to become an alliance with the Warisan-led government,” said Joniston, as quoted by The Borneo Post.

He was speaking to the media during a meet-the-candidate session in Kampung Tudan-Poring in Kiulu.

Wilfred Madius Tangau

However Madius in a respons to the accusation said that if Joniston wanted blame Upko for the Misompuru not working in this election, perhaps he can say the same to PBRS as they are also contesting against each other in Tandek even though they are supposed to be on the same side.

"Upko has moved on and when we talk about Misompuru today, we are talking about the unity of all Sabahans," said Madius.

Prior to GE14, the three parties were component parties of BN. 

However, following the coalition's defeat at both federal and state levels in 2018, Upko and PBS announced their exit, with Upko joining forces with Warisan while PBS went it alone.

Madius was later made one of Sabah's deputy chief ministers in Chief Minister Shafie Apdal's state cabinet.

PBS has since joined forces with BN and Perikatan Nasional to face the Sabah state election, albeit not officially joining any of the coalitions.

Despite the split, Joniston reportedly said that he has no qualms over cooperating with Madius who is the MP for Tuaran. For the record, Kiulu is one of three state constituencies that are within the Tuaran parliamentary constituency.

It would be better for Kiulu to have two elected representatives working together for the constituents' benefits, regardless of their political allegiances, Joniston said.

"If the previous state government was willing to cooperate with the federal government, even though they were on opposite sides, why can’t we do the same for Kiulu?

"I don’t hate (Madius). He is still my friend, but he left us," he added. - Mkini