Guan Eng begins Sandakan assault by linking PBS with Umno-PAS

SANDAKAN POLLS | DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng kicked off campaigning for the Sandakan by-election by attempting to draw links between opposition party Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) with Umno and PAS.

Speaking at a ceramah last night, Lim said that Sabah Umno – which did not vote in favour of the bill to amend Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution – has explicitly declared its support for PBS for the May 11 polls.

In view of this, he called on voters to reject PBS and back Pakatan Harapan's efforts to amend the provision.

"We kept our promise by proposing the constitutional amendment, but failed. Why did we fail? Because we don't have a two-thirds majority," he said.

The Harapan administration had attempted to restore Article 1(2) to what it was before the 1976 amendments – at the time, supported by BN lawmakers in both Sarawak and Sabah.

Subsequently, opponents of the amendments had argued that restoring Article 1(2) to its pre-1976 wording would be the first step in helping restore the rights of Sabah and Sarawak under the Malaysia Agreement 1963.

For the record, PBS president and Kota Marudu MP Maximus Johnity Ongkili had voted in favour of the amendments, along with three other Sabah opposition MPs. All Umno and PAS parliamentarians abstained from voting.

'Umno prepared to sell rights'

As Lim argued in his speech, Umno was prepared to "sell" the rights of East Malaysians and stymie efforts to restore Sabah's constitutional position.

"Now, our main opponent PBS (in the by-election) was supported by Umno, which has 37 MPs. If they fully backed us, the amendment would have been passed.

"Sabah will be one of the three equal partners in Malaysia," he argued.

Meanwhile, Warisan's Liew Vui Keong told the crowd of about 500 that every vote in Parliament counts, and urged Sandakan voters to ensure Harapan's numbers are maintained.

"We need a strong ruling party. Everyone wanted to see the constitutional amendment and to restore Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia as equal partners.

"But we still lack 10 votes... It is important that we increase our seats beyond the two-thirds mark.

"We failed on April 9 because the opposition abstained. We hope all would support the DAP candidate for Sandakan," he said.

In the by-election, Harapan candidate Vivian Wong will take on PBS' Linda Tsen and three independent candidates, namely Hamzah Abdullah, Chia Siew Yong and Sulaiman Abdul Samad. - Mkini