“A party that has proven to be sincere and serves the people deserves some respect and support,” said Wong in a statement carried by the Daily Express.

He hastened to assure that he was not against local parties. “Don’t get me wrong,” he said. “I am not attacking any local party.”

“On the contrary, I want to work with any party, including any local party, to change this government.”

He explained that he had criticized Likas Assemblyman Junz Wong, not for defecting from DAP to a local party, but for taking the seat along with him. “Likas is a DAP seat,” he said. “We fought hard to win the seat.”

“The voters know that. He failed to respect the decision of the voters.”

Wong expressed concern that Junz’s actions would derail his party’s talks with former Umno Vice-President Shafie Apdal’s new local party.

“There’s a chance for us to work together, come GE14, to topple the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) in Sabah,” he said. “Whatever reasons that Junz gives cannot justify his frog hopping move.”

In short, he added, although DAP is a national party, it doesn’t mean that it’s not sincere in fighting for Sabah. “We have Sabahans in DAP who want to change Sabah and fight for equal rights for their homeland,” he said. “We have been fighting since 1978 for Sabah.”

He urged the people to look at the party’s track record. “It’s proven.”

“We have consistently raised issues relating to Sabah,” he reminded.

Wong said that as Sandakan MP, he tabled a private member’s bill in Parliament seeking to amend the Federal Constitution to restore the status of Sabah as one of the three territories in the Federation, away from the present one of 13 states. “It was in fact a significant Bill,”

DAP, he continued, has adopted the idea of “New Federalism” to give teeth to the Federation as comprising three territories – Sabah, Sarawak and Malaya — in equal partnership. “New Federalism goes along with our ideology of Malaysian Malaysia.”