Calls For Maximum Two Terms For Cm And Pm Posts

Kota Kinabalu, Sabah—Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan, Chairman of Borneo Heritage Foundation’s United Borneo Front (UBF), has called upon the Federal Government to put in place a national policy that all Prime Ministers and Chief Ministers vacate their positions and make way for new faces after a maximum two terms.



“We should emulate the examples of developed nations and not follow the footsteps of nations who have a history of long serving leaders with a reputation for tyranny and dictatorship. This nation should continually evolve with a proper succession of leaders so that new ideas for growth and development can be implemented and generations can enhance old policies with new ones. If the PM and CM roles are allowed to refresh after every two terms, entire generations will not be bypassed in the decision making process. This is the basis of good governance and is the first step towards the elimination of possessive greed and dominance and cronyism,” said Dr. Jeffrey in his press statement.

He added that the Chief Minister of Sabah should set a good example by vacating his position by the next election as he has served two terms and applauded the views of the UPKO leadership in making way for new leaders to rise within the ranks.

“With so many political party components in Sabah alone, UMNO should not assume that they have a right to monopolise the Chief Minister’s position. There is no rule in place that says that the next general election should automatically set an UMNO leader for the State Cabinet leadership. In fact, local based political parties should represent their State and be given priority over Federal based parties. The State Government has autonomy in accordance with the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and as such should decide policies for the benefit of the State first and foremost. If the State Cabinet leaders are mere proxies of the Federal political parties, they would naturally prioritise Federal needs,” Dr. Jeffrey added.

Dr. Jeffrey suggested that if extra seats were allocated in Sabah for ADUNS and MPs, these should be divided equitably between local based parties. “If we wish to increase Sabah and Sarawak’s voice to cover 35% of the parliament, that 35% should be MPs from local based parties and not Federal based parties. They are more likely to prioritise Borneo’s position in this country.”

Good governance, Dr. Jeffrey said, also means that elected candidates have the integrity to resign from their ministerial positions if they hopped parties after they have been elected by the people. “If the people mandated you to win under one ticket, you should have the integrity to step down and go for a by-election if you then decide to rule as a leader under a different ticket. This is simply cheating the people of their voting choices.”