Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Ghapur accuses BN of practising double standards

The Sun (12/3/08): Amid strong rumours of Barisan Nasional (BN) parliamentarians crossing over to Pakatan Rayat (PR), Datuk Seri Panglima Abdul Ghapur Salleh (BN-Kalabakan) poured fuel into the fire while debating his motion of thanks on the royal address in the Dewan Rakyat (Parliament) today.

Accusing the ruling BN government of practising double standards, Abdul Ghapur issued a "serious warning" that BN would suffer greatly if this did not stop.

"Sabah mahu keadilan (Sabah wants justice)," he said, drawing a roar from his fellow parliamentarians.

After a moment, he corrected his phrase saying: "Sabah wants justice, not the party."

In a press conference later, Abdul Ghapur was asked if PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had approached him and if he was considering defecting, he denied it.

However, Abdul Ghapur kept emphasising that if not for the number of MPs from Sabah and Sarawak, PR would have managed to get the simple majority to form the new government.

"One-hundred-forty seats minus 54 from Sabah and Sarawak, there would not be enough to even form a simple majority (for BN)," he told reporters later.

He had also called for oil royalty to Sabah to be raised to 20% from its current annual rate of 5% amounting to RM500 million.

If approved, some RM2 billion, which "is not too much", can be channelled on an annual basis to help the state alleviate poverty rates and solve "a lot of problems in Sabah".

In his debate earlier, Abdul Ghapur said the BN did not listen or act on the complaints and issues of the people of Sabah and if the BN did not change its ways, "in the next election, it will not just be BN which will lose. Even I will lose".

In voicing the issues that inundated the state, Abdul Ghapur brought to light that the people in the rural areas drank water from the wells.

"If there is no rain, where will they find water? Even in the urban areas the waters coming out of the pipes are the colour of teh susu (tea with milk).

"Electricity supply is often disrupted in cities of Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan. Is this the meaning of independence?" he asked, also raising housing, inflation, security and housing problems.

Describing Sabahan voices as going into the right ear and coming out of the left, Abdul Ghapur said East Malaysia were sidelined and it felt like the states were step-children.

"We are a country but we are made to be second-class citizens and maybe people will say that Kalabakan speaks like the opposition.

"The fact is, we have been doing this even from before. It also looks like Sabah is being taken for granted," he said, adding that "if there is opposition in the BN, accept it as it is constructive".

Abdul Ghapur said: "If a public referendum arises, Sabahans may prefer to opt to be part of the Philippines if the long-standing issue of undocumented migrants was not dealt with."

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