By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, May 13: Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) president Voon Lee Shan has called out Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi for his ‘Sabah for Sabahans’ remark, which the deputy prime minister described the sentiment as ‘divisive’.
In a statement, Voon said that by that logic, Sarawakians should also not call for a ‘Sarawak for Sarawakians’—a sentiment that the people of the State have frequently used.
“Such a call out by Zahid Hamidi clearly shows that Sabah and Sarawak are colonies of Malaya, and Sabahans and Sarawakians should not call for protecting their rights.
“The call by Zahid Hamidi is a politics of intimidation and imperialism. It restricts our freedoms, and it seems the federal government wants to see the people of Sarawak and Sabah as colonised people of Malaya.
“It shows that Malaya or the federal government, which Malaya controls, has no sincerity in taking care of Sarawak and Sabah,” he said.
Voon went on to say that Sarawak and Sabah want independence in terms of oil and gas resource management, healthcare and education, as well as how they run their respective States, which he claimed have seen much interference by the federal government.
“Sabahans and Sarawakians want independence and to be free from dictation by Malaya. We want to be independent and not be controlled in the ways we want to develop our lands,” he said.
On May 12, Zahid said that the ‘Sabah for Sabahans’ sentiment is counterproductive as Sabah is a member of the federation, and maintaining a close relationship with Putrajaya is key to the State’s prosperity and development.
“We want cooperation between parties at both the federal and State levels so that there are no ‘Sabah for Sabahans’ sentiments. After all, we are all Malaysians,” Zahid said to reporters after an event, in a report by Free Malaysia Today.
This followed news reports of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) chairman Hajiji Noor, who said they are ready to contest solo and focus on working with other local parties.
Hajiji said this in response to an announcement that Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional had agreed to work together for the Sabah election.
He said GRS had consistently held that local Sabah parties should be the backbone of the State government as they have a better understanding of the realities, cultures, and needs of Sabahans. — DayakDaily
