PBS UPKO Should Leverage Their Presence or LeaveBN – STAR

Kota Kinabalu:    “PM Najib and his Umno party have mis-used the federal government and its machinery for its own political ends and has already laid the path of no return for the nation.   The BN components, particularly PBS and Upko do not have any more options.  They need to leverage their presence in BN now or else bite the bullet and leave the BN or be rejected as irrelevant and incapable of protecting Sabahans from Umno/Malayan hegemony” said HasminAzroy Abdullah, STAR Sabah Youth Chief in a press statement released today.

PBS and Upko leaders need to do some soul-searching and ask themselves whether they wish to continue to be used as political mules to carry outUmno’sinstructions and rotten policies or to be true to their objectives to safeguard the rights of Sabah and the interests of Sabahans.

The same applies to the other BN components in Sabah and to the Sabahans inside Sabah Umno.

“I have no intention to belittle anyone or to intrude but I am just stating the obvious and which are being said by Sabahans in public and in private” said Azroy.

The crux of the matter is not the Bible raid but the actions and inactions of the PM and the federal government that is leading Malaysia down the path of no return.

It needs to be remembered that the ban onthe use of the word “Allah” and others was set in 1984 during the reign of Dr. Mahathir.   It has now reached the height of actions by over-zealous religious officials and agencies.

When the High Court ruled that “Allah” was not exclusive to Muslims and had been used by Christians and other religions long before Malaya got its independence in 1957 or the formation of Malaysia in 1963.   It was a decision that was consistent with the views of world-wide scholars, both Islamic and non-Islamic.

Instead of letting the issue stand, the federal government choose to appeal to the Court of Appeal.  In overturning the High Court decision, the Court of Appeal decision while being a legal precedent that the Christian bulletin, The Herald, cannot use the word “Allah”, has opened up Pandora’s box on political interpretations.

Politically, the damage is irreparable.  While the only solution appears to be a withdrawal or setting aside of the 1984 government administration decision resulting in discontinuance of the court proceedings.  However, the withdrawal will still leave political opportunists to quote the Court of Appeal decision in support of their frivolous claims for exclusivity for the use of “Allah”.   This is a no-win situation for religious freedom which is guaranteed under the Federal Constitution.

Instead and due to the pending GE-13 general election, Najib chose to pen the 10-Point solution to overcome the issue.   This has led to the ridiculous situation where Sabahans and Sarawakians cannot use “Allah” while in the Peninsula and for West Malaysians being allowed to use “Allah” while visiting Sabah and Sarawak but not when they are in the Peninsula.

The 10-Point solution was a political gimmick to retain the Umno/BN’s fixed deposit in Sabah and Sarawak during GE-13.   It has remained a gimmick until today and is not honoured and not respected by the powers that be.   The Bible raid is clear testimony that the 10-Point solution is a worthless piece of paper.

The Umno-led BN coalition in the federal government has no intention of honouring the 10-Point solution.   Period.

Why should the Umno-led federal government honour the 10-Point solution and the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom?

If its past record is anything to go by, the Malayan government masquerading as the federal government of Malaysia has for the past 50 years ignored and in instances trampled on the Malaysia Agreement and the 20-Points Memorandum.

“Isn’t the Malaysia Agreement and the 20-Points paramount and more important?  askedAzroy.  Without them, there would not exist the federation of Malaysia today.

Furthermore, the current PM himself and the Umno-led BN has been consistently lying to the people and broken many promises.

If the PBS delegates at their 2013 general assembly still remember, the PM himself promised the PBS delegates to wait for the following Friday’s 2014 Budget announcement to see the goodies for Sabah.   As it turned out, there no major goodies for Sabah and the 2014 Budget was a huge disappointment from Sabah’s perspective.

“What about the BN May 2013 Manifesto and the numerous promises made during campaigning including the Labuan Bridge?”   Aren’t many of these promises being broken by Umno/BN resulting in price hikes everywhere? addedAzroy.

The only conclusion is that the federal government can no longer be trusted and their promises are meaningless.   Meanwhile, the mismanagement is leading Malaysia towards bankruptcy with the national debt at the RM600 billion level, perhaps already more than the 55% GPD ratio limit.  At stake is Sabah’s oil and gas revenues, all RM26.6 billion in 2014, which are squandered by corruption and uncontrolled spending by the federal government.

If after their soul-searching, PBS and Upko still think that they love Sabah more and still care for their fellow Sabahans and have the interest of Sabah at heart, then they have to swallow their pride and make that decision to leave BN.   It may be heart-wrenching and difficult but it will be for the good of Sabah and go a long way in redeeming their dignity.   Malaysia is burning, there is no time to stand idle and watch and to betray Sabahans anymore.

While at it, they should also persuade their fellow Sabahans in Umno to leave Umno and join forces to stand alone and form an alternative federal government and an alternative Sabah government.  They have nothing to lose but everything to gain.   The positions and the contracts will still be there if that is their worry.