KOTA KINABALU: Gerakan Sabah has drawn fire from a state Umno leader over its request to be given certain seats in the coming general election.
Umno Kalabakan chief Datuk Abdul Ghapur Salleh said yesterday that Gerakan Sabah had no right to demand seats as it did not even contest a single seat in Sabah during the last general election.
"They have no right to demand, they were not even given a seat to contest in the last election," he said when commenting on Gerakan vice president Datuk Raymond Tan's support for Upko president Tan Sri Bernard Dompok's call for Umno not to contest more than 50 per cent of the state and parliament seats in the state.
Ghapur, however, said he was not arguing about the seat allocation issue but questioning the ability and credibility of Gerakan in winning the support of the people, particularly the Chinese community.
He said Gerakan's entry into Sabah was to prove its own existence after having failed miserably in the last election that saw them losing Penang.
''They are in Sabah only to prove their existence by luring Chinese leaders who are in politics for government office," he said.
"Gerakan is being likened to a broken down and sinking ship without capable captain. Now they are hoping that in Sabah with the jilting of local politicians, they can stay afloat and at the same time give a small beacon to prove their moderate existence," Ghapur said.
The other question is whether this "jilting" candidates can be '"winnable," he said;' adding that Gerakan should concentrate on their internal squabbling instead of demanding seats.
The Borneo Post
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
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