By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Sept 1: Several Sabah members of Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) have quit after party president Larry Sng suggested that they should not contest two state assembly seats held by Pakatan Harapan (PH) leaders.
In a Facebook post, Sng said PBM had received the resignation of several Sabah party leaders following his suggestion not to contest the seats of Kadamaian and Tanjong Papat as announced at the party’s recent annual meeting in Kota Kinabalu.
He stated that Kadamaian is currently held by Ewon Benedict, who is the president of the United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (UPKO) and the PH chairman for Sabah, while Frankie Poon Ming Fung of the Democratic Action Party (DAP) holds the Tanjong Papat seat.
“I do believe it is within PBM’s right to contest in any seat in Sabah, given our independent position.
“However, I have expressed my concern about the lack of preparedness of our candidates and being labelled as being anti-PH, which is the coalition of PMX (Prime Minister Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim), who is our friend and ally at the national level,” said the Julau MP.
Sng said that the only seat and candidate that he agreed to endorse is Bandau for Jupperi Lenson, who is the Sabah PBM chairman and a local candidate who has been working on the ground for several months.
He added that Bandau is currently being held by Parti Kesejahteraan Demokratik Masyarakat (KDM) deputy president Datuk Wetrom Bahanda, who is not seeking to defend the seat.
“Since PBM is not privy to any negotiations between PH-BN (Barisan Nasional)- Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), the decision to contest there was made early on.
“Should PBM win this coming election, the party will align with the new State government to ensure political stability,” he said. — DayakDaily
