|
PRESS
RELEASE
KUALA
LUMPUR, 28 OCTOBER 1998
ONGKILI
: ENSURE CLEAN, FREE AND DEMOCRATIC ELECTION FOR SABAH
Kuala
Lumpur, Wed.- Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) today appealed to
Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad to ensure that the forthcoming
Sabah election was clean, fair and truly democratic in line with
the aspirations of the nation to practise parliamentary democracy.
Bandau
member of parliament Dr. Maximus Ongkili said it was reassuring
for the Prime Minister in his 1999 Budget speech to have emphasised
the fact that Malaysia was a democratic country and anyone who wished
to change the government could do so through the election process.
Dr.
Ongkili was debating the motion on the 1999 budget in parliament
tabled by Dr. Mahathir on 23 October.
He
said while Malaysia was known to practise parliamentary democracy,
it had happened in Sabah that a government which won an election
in 1994 could not continue to govern because of undemocractic actions
by opponents of then PBS government.
"We
should consider what happened in Sabah in 1994 as history that should
not be repeated again. I appeal to the Prime Minister to guarantee
a clean, fair and truly democratic election in Sabah and to respect
whichever party wins the election. Give the winning chief minister
five years to lead the government so that Sabah again can move forward
from its present problems," he urged.
Dr.
Ongkili said the federal government must not allow its machinery
to be abused by irresponsible groups such as "intimidating the voters,
using phantom voters, buying PBS assemblymen, and closing the door
of the istana as was done during the last election".
The
PBS deputy president claimed the state election will be held within
the next 150 days at the most and urged the Election Commission
to ensure that the electrol roll was free from pollution by unqualified
voters.
"No
party in Malaysia has worked so hard to assist the Election Commission
to clean the Sabah electrol roll aside from PBS. We have literally
worked full time over the last five years identifying anomalies
in the roll. PBS made two courtesy calls to the Commission in Kuala
Luampur led by Datuk Joseph Pairin Kitingan and submitted two memorandums
on how to clean and safeguard the integrity of the electrol roll
and the election process.
"Unfortunately,
the Commission has not responded much to our suggestions. Indeed
our proposals have been viewed as opposition’s ideas. We have been
very patient and have used all the available channels including
parliament to help the Commission in this matter," stressed Dr.
Ongkili.
He
said PBS actually has a mandate from its members throughout the
state to bring up the matter of the polluted electrol roll to international
forums.
"If
that’s the only way to help the Commission and the country on this
matter, we may not have any other option but to do exactly that
in the interest of justice and parliamentary rights of the people,"
he added.
|
