Among, who heads GR as Protem Chairman, was giving an update on the grand alliance which had its second meeting in Kota Kinabalu earlier in the week.
He reiterated that GR allies are committed on forging total unity in the Opposition. “We agree that any political party wishing to enter GR only needs to get a simple majority support to sign up ” said Among. “No party can be removed from the alliance without consensus.”
It’s not true to say, as alleged by Sapp President Yong Teck Lee, that GR was being set up merely to facilitate Malaya to continue its divide-and-rule policies in Borneo, assured Among. “We will be inviting Sapp as well to join GR.”
Bingkor Assemblyman and Star Sabah Chief Jeffrey Kitingan, he noted, has also expressed “reservations” on GR. “In fact, Star will be one of the two Sarawak parties in GR, the other being Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS).”
Briefly, said Among, his party will be pushing GR to bring an end to parties from Malaya dominating politics in Borneo. “Since they are already here, they can only be pushed out when the people reject them,” said the MUPP Chief. “On our part, we need to convince the people that there should be no place in Sabah and Sarawak for the parti parti Malaya even though their membership is local.”
It’s not only the parti parti Malaya, added Among, but also the Malaya-based coalitions like Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Harapan (PH) that should be rejected by the people “and thrown out from Borneo”.
He does not see it as a contradiction in terms that GR, which may have one or two parties in Malaya as allies, should at the same time strive to expel the parti parti Malaya from Borneo. “Our Malayan partners will not enter the fray in Sabah and Sarawak,” stressed Among. “At the same time they will be adding to our strength in Parliament so that Borneo can get back its veto powers in Parliament.”
“At the moment, we have the People’s Alternative Party PAP) from Malaya already in GR.”
The arrangement in 1963, stressed Among, was that Borneo will have one-third plus one seat in Parliament. “Given the 222 seats in Parliament, Borneo should have 75 seats, not 57 seats, as that means we have been short-changed by 18 seats.”
To make matters worse, lamented Among, Malayan parties like Umno, DAP and PKR hold parliamentary seats in Sabah and Sarawak. “This means that they are adding to their strength in Malaya at our expense.”
“Borneo’s voice in the Malaysian Parliament has become much more muted.”
Star, PBDS, PAP and MUPP aside, two other members in GR are Pertubuhan Perpaduan Rakyat Kebangsaan Sabah and Parti Sejahtera Angkatan Perpaduan Sabah (SAPU).