PBS to send Federal Govt a memo on ISA

KOTA KINABALU, Nov 2 (New Straits Times) --- Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) does not support the use of the Internal Security Act (ISA) for political reasons, and would be sending a memorandum on the issue to the Federal Government.

Calling for a review of the act, PBS president Datuk Joseph Pairin Kitingan said that the ISA should only be used to check on terrorist or other actions that seriously threatened the security of the country.

“We do not agree with the ISA being used on cases that could have been handled by other laws of the country, or being used for the political agenda of any group,” Pairin said in his policy speech Sunday at the 23rd PBS congress.

The congress was opened by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Saturday.

Pairin said that PBS would be sending a memorandum on the issue to the federal leadership.

He also said that the Philippines’ claim on Sabah must be settled once and for all, adding that the Federal Government should act to resolve the issue that has existed since the formation of Malaysia in 1963,

Pairin, who touched on various political, social and economic issues in his two-hour speech, brought up the call for solutions to the Sabah claim while highlighting the illegal immigrant and illegal citizenship problems that the party was concerned about.

He also spoke on the need to hasten the “Borneonisation” of the federal civil service in Sabah, the protection of religious freedom as enshrined in the Constitution, and also tackling rural poverty.

Pairin, who has led PBS since its formation in 1985, suggested that PBS set up a Political Leadership Academy to train younger party cadres on leadership and objectives of the party and Barisan Nasional.