KOTA KINABALU: Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) claimed the notions of 'power sharing' and 'mutual respect' that have always been practised by the Barisan Nasional (BN) only exist in name in Sabah.
Its Secretary-General, Datuk Teo Chee Kang, said political appointments in the State administration, statutory bodies and Government-linked companies were supposed to be guided by the power sharing concept under the BN framework, as opposed to arbitrarily placing individual factors as the paramount consideration.
He said component parties which fought hard and contributed seats to the victory of BN were not absorbed into the mainstream of the State administration, where as a party that has no more place to stand in Peninsular Malaysia and has never won a seat in Sabah was given the prominence.
“Such illogical act has disturbed the political equilibrium among the component parties in Sabah. Therefore, the State BN must make changes before the next general election return the besics so that it cen truly emerge as a united front to face challenges in the coming general election.
"Although our voices may be repugnant to certain quarters, some may even deem us as the opposition within BN, I would like to reiterate that we are not opposing BN. We believe that the BN family is big enough to have room for different voices," he said.
Officiating at the joint annual general meeting of the LDP Api-Api and LDP Luyang here, Sunday, Teo urged the authorities to take corrective actions without fear in order to deter further damage to race relations, which is often sacrificed in furtherance of political agenda in the country.
Teo, who is also Tanjung Kapor Assemblyman, said the problem of religion and racial polarisation in the country had since aggravated.
"By allowing its columnist to promote the idea of "1Bumiputera", Utusan Malaysia had blatantly disregaded and contradicted the Prime Minister's "1Malaysia" concept.
“Recently, it blew up the unbelievable story of a blogger that 'Christian leaders conspired to turn Malaysia into a Christian state' in its front page, thereby fanning up racial hatred and distrust, adding tensions to the racial relation which was already placed on a tight rope.
"However, for what it had done, it only received a warning letter from the Home Ministry. As Utusan Malaysia is controlled by Umno, this would inevitably paint a wrong picture that the Government acquiesced such provocative act," he said.
Teo said the Merdeka Research Centre's latest report showed there is a drop in Malaysians' confidence in race relations.
"In a study made in May this year, only 66 per cent citizens ranked the nation's race relations at the 'good' level, a drop of 12 per cent compared with 78 per cent in February 2006.
"In the aspect of racial integration, the study shows that on the question of the mutual trust among the different races, it has gone down to 35 per cent, a drop of 19 per cent compared with 54 per cent in 2006," he said, adding it was imperative that the authorities concerned take immediate measurgs to rectify this problem.
Meanwhile, Teo said the political tsunami in 2008 and the recent Sarawak State Election was a clear indication of the voting trend of the urban voters.
By and large, the urban dwellers are more well informed with higher level of political awareness, he said, adding that they were relatively not so concerned with water, electricity and problems in relation to infrastructures. but more interested as to whether issues affecting the people and the nation are well handled.
"Whether decisions are made and actions are taken fairly and justly? Whether personal rights and liberties are infringed?
"Therefore, in order to recapture the urban votes, the BN Government must exhibit greater sincerity and determination to manage and resolve issues," he said.
"I wish to again congratulate our Deputy President Datuk Chin Su Phin for his appointment as Senator by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the support of President Datuk VK Liew and recommendation of the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
"This shows that although we face the prospect of being marginalised in the State, the BN central leadership takes cognisance and is leading supports to our struggle,” he said.
Daily Express
Monday, 15th August 2011
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