DAP Penang

PENAMPANG: DAP has not reached any agreement with the Sabah Progressive People’s Party (SAPP) over seat allocation in Sabah.

Dismissing claims by SAPP president Yong Teck Lee, DAP leaders said Pakatan Rakyat did not operate along the lines of Barisan Nasional (BN) where Umno is the lead party.

DAP national vice-chairman Tan Kok Wai said that to reach a consensus, SAPP would have had to have a formal meeting with Pakatan coalition members and this had not taken place.

“To me and my colleagues in the Pakatan coalition, this is news because it is unheard-of.

“If there was an agreement, it means that all the three coalition parties knew of it and have had a discussion about it.

“But we did not have any discussion at all, neither formal nor informal, so I am surprised that such a statement was made,” he said.

Tan added that Pakatan operates on the principle that all coalition members are equal partners and all policies and agreements are decided by consensus.

“In other words, all must agree on policy matters including contesting seats by Pakatan members or negotiations with political parties which are non-coalition members,” he said.

Tan, who is also DAP election bureau director, said this during a press conference after officially opening the Sabah DAP headquarters in Penampang near here yesterday.

He said Pakatan was different from the ruling BN coalition which was controlled by senior partner Umno which decided on all matters including allocation of electoral seats.

Tan also said DAP is determined to contest at least 20 state and 10 parliamentary seats in Sabah, adding that this has been conveyed to the Pakatan coalition members in Sabah.

‘Only two national parties’

Meanwhile, Sabah DAP chief Jimmy Wong said the state leadership had identified the seats they want to contest and the matter was being finalised to ensure a “one-to-one” fight against BN in the coming election.

“As far as parliamentary seats are concerned, Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan, Tawau and Penampang are on DAP’s wish list.

“We are asking for them as these are must-have seats for Sabah DAP and we will field the best candidates possible,” he said.

As far as DAP is concerned, there are only two national parties – BN and Pakatan – and those who are not members of Pakatan would be treated as BN members “because the fight is between BN and Pakatan”.

The opposition coalition has urged SAPP to link up with them formally as a national front but has been rebuffed so far.

“To work together, you must join Pakatn. We want that stand to be very firm… you are either Pakatan or BN; if you are neither, we cannot recognise you… we cannot recognise the ‘+1’ system as this will be chaotic,” Wong said.

Touching on the opening of the Sabah DAP headquarters, Wong said that it is part of efforts to strengthen the party in Sabah.

Kota Kinabalu MP Hiew King Cheu, who was also present at the press conference, said that Pakatan would strive to field popular candidates irrespective of which party he or she is from.

“The candidate must be somebody who can win the seat for Pakatan and not for any particular party,” he said, adding that DAP wants to contest in major state seats in urban and suburban areas.

“We can even go as far as Tenom, Kudat. Some of the seats we have agreed on and there are some yet to be trashed out,” he said.

(Free Malaysia Today)

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