KOTA KINABALU, April 3 — Kota Kinabalu Member of Parliament (MP) Chan Foong Hin has urged Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) leaders not to jeopardise the chance to get the anti-party hopping law tabled and passed in Parliament on April 11 by demonising the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the government and Pakatan Harapan (PH).
Chan, who is a member of Democratic Action Party (DAP) Central Executive Committee, said Warisan leaders had recently made wild and baseless allegations against DAP and PH.
Among the allegations include the MoU was signed for funding; PH can still support anti-hopping bill, if any, without the need to sign any MoU; and that DAP’s Lim Guan Eng flew down to Sabah to personally meet the Chief Minister and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) Sabah chief Datuk Seri Panglima Hajiji Noor for secret and direct negotiations which the public was not aware of, until it was exposed.
He said the statements were made unfairly with the intention best known to the Warisan leaders.
“We all know how the previous Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin left his position as Prime Minister on July 8, 2021.
“Umno has instructed their MPs to withdraw support for Muhyiddin and called for his resignation. The next Prime Minister from Umno, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri’s majority in the house was so slim that he could be removed at anytime by the withdrawal of confidence.
“The MoU is basically to ensure political stability in Malaysia. The rakyat should not be the victim of instability within ruling party.”
Furthermore, he said the MoU was never kept in secret, adding that it was available from the Malaysian Parliament’s website at https://www.parlimen.gov.my/images/webuser/bkk/MOU.pdf.
“Clearly, the raison d’etre (reason for existence) of the MoU is, to prevent continuous political instability by having a bipartisan understanding whilst delaying the dissolution of Parliament till after the situation of the Covid-19 pandemic becomes better that a general election can be held without risking the health of Malaysians.”
Chan said the MoU was not like how Warisan had described it — only for funding. Besides, he said the constituency allocation is not for PH MP’s personal use.
“It goes back to rakyat. E-kasih recipients, B40, schools, mosques, temples are among the beneficiaries. Why should we deny the rights of opposition constituents?” he said in a statement on Sunday.
He said among the terms of MoU was that an anti-hopping law had to be enacted.
“Of course, PH can support an anti-hopping bill even without the MoU, but if not for the MoU, the government wouldn’t have had the anti-hopping bill placed high on the government’s agenda and even be brought to cabinet, where it is currently is.
“Without the MoU, the anti-hopping law is a non-starter, Ismail Sabri’s government won’t even think of bringing an anti-hopping law.
“De facto Law Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar’s recent statements clearly exhibited how difficult to get the anti-hopping law tabled as there was resistance even within Ismail Sabri’s cabinet.
“I urge Warisan leaders to not jeopardise the chance to get the anti-hopping law tabled and passed in parliament on 11th April by demonising the MoU.”
As for the allegation of “secret meeting between Lim Guan Eng and Hajiji”, Chan said sometime last year after the federal-level MoU was inked, the then DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng was invited to meet Hajiji, and Lim agreed to the meeting as a matter of courtesy.
On October 14, 2021 prior to meeting Hajiji, Lim paid a courtesy call to Warisan president and Sabah’s Opposition leader, Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, to inform and brief the latter about the meeting to be held with Hajiji, he said.
After the meeting with Hajiji, Chan said Lim had once again on October 18, 2021 met up with Shafie and informed him what had transpired during the meeting with Hajiji. Every single detail was shared with Shafie, he said.
“All due procedures have been followed whereby Shafie as Sabah opposition leader was updated and notified. How can Warisan leaders claim that DAP had ended up ‘by-passing, disrespecting and betraying’ Shafie? Clearly there is no betrayal nor any secrecy.”
He said the opposition have to adopt the principle of mutual respect — agree to disagree.
He pointed out that when Warisan had decided to stay out of the federal MoU, DAP and PH had also respected Warisan’s decision not to participate.
“Bear in mind, PH successfully rejected the motion of Sosma’s provision allowing for detention without trial up to 28 days. It is a history in making.
“A day after, PH supported the government’s constitutional amendment to exclude the royals from automatic voters registration (181 support vs 0 opposition) after the successful turning down (86 oppose vs 85 support).
“This shows the effectiveness of the MoU between PH and the Ismail Sabri federal government.
“If the bill and motion are against public interest, PH reject. If beneficial to the rakyat, PH support.”
He hoped that Warisan leaders could start to understand how the MoU worked and how it was actually beneficial to the people.
“If Warisan leaders such as (Datuk) Junz Wong still wishes to spin and claim that PH is ‘no longer opposition’, then Junz is showing political immaturity by spreading the falsehood without recognising the fact of MoU is working.
“Why should Warisan act confrontational against DAP/PH?
“From recruiting DAP members to contesting against DAP in Johor election, it is splitting up the opposition to the benefit of BN.
“Worst still, Warisan failed to keep its deposit in the Johor election. Six candidates contributed RM30,000 to national treasury.”
Chan hoped to see more constructive ideas to consolidate opposition support by advocating the people’s issues, such as price hike, job opportunities, institutional reforms and imbalance regional development.
“Avoiding multiple corner fights against each other in GE15 is a more urgent thing to do instead of attacking DAP/PH. Unity is the value down in the heart of Warisan leaders and followers, isn’t it?” — Borneo Post
