‘SAPP and UBF have common aspirations’

TAWAU: The Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) has thrown open its doors to Jeffrey Kitingan and his United Borneo Front (UBF) in the battle for votes in the next general election.

The local opposition party which is keen on a loose union with Anwar Ibrahim’s national opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat, has offered UBF members the chance to use SAPP as their vehicle to contest in the elections.

Both organisations have been gradually drawing closer together with Jeffrey, a former PKR vice president, saying earlier this month that SAPP would come under the umbrella grouping fighting for the ‘Borneonisation’ of Sabah and Sarawak

SAPP vice-president Chua Soon Bui confirmed the close relationship on Thursday when she said the NGO and her party had several dialogues and organised seminars on their “mission and vision” for a politically autonomous Sabah.

“We found that we are very close.

“If UBF activists are interested to contest (in the election) … if they want to use SAPP as a vehicle they are always welcome and if they want to register a new political vehicle we also give our blessing,” she said.

The announcement of the tie-up offer between the two groups who are determined to be seen as independent of Pakatan Rakyat is bound to re-jig the power play taking place in the state opposition ranks.

Win-win situation

Both have acknowledged that Anwar’s coalition that combines PKR, DAP and PAS also has a role in their bid to unseat the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition government at state and federal level.

However, they do not want to be seen as bit players in the tussle for the 60 state assembly and 26 (including Labuan) parliamentary seats that could be contested in the 13 general election.

Observers here are expecting Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to call for polls anytime after next month’s budget sitting.

“We hope we can reach an agreement among all the political players for one-to-one contests because it is the people’s interest that is important.

“We don’t want Sabah-based parties to be marginalised,” said Chua, who is also Tawau MP.

She stressed that a win by SAPP would also be a win for UBF because both share the same struggle.

Both groups are also in sync with Pakatan’s mission which is to unseat the BN.

The BN coalition currently controls 23 of the 26 parliamentary seats in the state, including Labuan and 57 of the state assembly seats. -FMT