SANDAKAN: Datuk VK Liew’s comment on the two UPKO assemblymen’s move to quit their party showed he has forgotten how the Warisan-led State Government came into power and also a slap in the face to Warisan president Datuk Seri Panglima Shafie Apdal.
MCA Libaran Division deputy chairman Potter Liau said the Warisan-led State Government came into power through a series of defections and it did not have the mandate of the Sabah people after the 14th General Elections.
“In case the Batu Sapi Member of Parliament cum Warisan Permanent Chairman has forgotten, allow me to refresh his memory how Warisan and its partners wrested power from the Barisan Nasional in May 2018,” Liau said.
On Monday, Kuala Penyu assemblyman Datuk Limus Jury and Sugut assemblyman Datuk James Ratib quit UPKO. Both state elected representatives have declared themselves as independent assemblymen who support the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government led by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
If Warisan leaders and their partners continue to liken elected representatives severing ties with them after losing confidence in their leadership to “frogs”, then it shows that they are hypocrites. Are they telling the people it is okay to do it if it is benefiting Warisan and its partners but when the situation is against them then they are saying something else about it, Liau said.
Why blamed others and not look into their own problems because these elected representatives left them as they now know the Warisan-led State Government is incapable of managing the State affairs and delivering its promises to the Sabah people, Liau said.
Meanwhile, commenting on the statement by Sabah DAP chairman Datuk Frankie Poon calling for Parliament to amend the Federal Constitution to make party hopping illegal as this can create political stability, Liau asked why didn’t Pakatan Harapan do it when they were in Putrajaya for two years.
During the regional LawAsia Constitutional and Rule of Law Conference in Kuala Lumpur last October, it was then Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohd who said there was no need for anti-hopping laws as members of a political party linked to a bad government may need to switch sides, Liau added.
In 2018, we had the then De facto Law Minister Datuk VK Liew who is from Warisan that said in a parliamentary written reply that an anti-party hopping law to deter lawmakers from defecting was not in the works as every citizen had the right under the Federal Constitution to form association, Liau said.
So Poon’s statement contradicted what Mahathir and VK Liew had said earlier. This shows Warisan and PH leaders are inconsistent in their stand, Liau said.- pr/BNN
