RANAU: The President of the United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (UPKO), Datuk Ewon Benedick, urged the leadership and members of UPKO Ranau to support all government elected representatives in the district to strengthen unity and cooperation among Sabah’s local parties.
He said a culture of mutual respect and collaboration with local parties, especially those in government, is vital to ensure development for the benefit of the people in the district proceeds smoothly.
“If we want our party to be respected by the public, if we want our party and division to be respected by leaders and other parties, we must start that ourselves.”
“We must be able to respect and work with other parties, particularly the government parties and government elected representatives. This is what I want to see in UPKO Ranau, especially in the coming term after the division meeting concludes,” he said.
He made the remarks while closing UPKO Ranau’s triennial general meeting at Lohan Rest House here today.
Ewon said any demands the party wishes to raise require a spirit of consensus and cooperation from all sides.
“People are united because of consensus. Therefore, we must be able to reach consensus with the two Deputy Chief Ministers based in Ranau and with the government representatives in the district,” he said.
At the same time, he urged the new UPKO Ranau leadership to submit proposals on the redelineation of electoral boundaries in the district.
He said Ranau is a very large area and it is time to consider creating a new state assembly or parliamentary constituency to ensure more effective representation.
“Every party has been asked to submit proposals for new boundaries. The current parliamentary boundaries are still based on the 2004 delimitations.”
“That means the boundaries have not been reviewed for 22 years. If we want to see UPKO strengthened in the future, I hope these proposals can be put forward to the party leadership after the Congress,” he said.
Ewon also expressed his appreciation to the Chairman of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), Datuk Seri Panglima Hajiji Noor, and to the GRS Supreme Council leadership for formally accepting UPKO as a component party of the coalition.
He described UPKO’s entry into GRS as a historic achievement that opens wider opportunities for the unification of Sabah’s local parties.
“UPKO has never previously been part of an officially registered coalition of Sabah’s local parties. I am very grateful because what I have hoped for since joining this party has finally come true.”
“I have always hoped that Sabah’s local parties could unite, and today UPKO is part of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah,” he said.
According to him, the unification of Sabah’s local parties is important to strengthen the struggle for Sabah’s rights as set out in the Malaysia Agreement and to ensure the voice of Sabah’s people is stronger in the future. -pr/BNN
