KOTA KINABALU, Dec 23 — Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) reaffirms its unwavering stance on safeguarding Sabah’s political autonomy.

Its information chief, Chin Vui Kai, said they observed that some Sabah-based parties aligned with national political coalitions face significant challenges in fully advocating for greater autonomy for Sabah within their current national party decision making structure, often encountering constraints in advocating Sabah rights.

Therefore, SAPP urges Sabah-based political parties to support the initiative of "Local Parties Contesting All 73 Seats”.

"We call for strong unity, determination, and a collective sense of responsibility to demonstrate the mission of Sabah’s political parties.

"At the same time, we also appeal to non-Sabah-based parties to respect the Sabah people’s aspirations for political autonomy. We urge them to refrain from contesting in the Sabah State Legislative Assembly elections, emulating the precedent set by Perikatan Nasional and Barisan Nasional in the last Sarawak state elections, where no candidates were fielded by BN and PN,” said Chin in a statement yesterday.

He said this would genuinely reflect respect for the autonomy of Malaysia’s three regions.

"SAPP firmly believes that Sabah’s future should be determined by its people. Only by ensuring that local parties contest all 73 seats can Sabah’s government completely free itself from external interference and uphold Sabah’s dignity,” he added. — The Borneo Post