KOTA KINABALU: Pakatan Harapan should listen to other local opposition parties if they were serious about forming a pact in Sabah, Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Star) president Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan said.
He said, the opposition pact should also be sensible with its promise of creating a deputy prime minister post to represent east Malaysia in the federal government.
“If they are serious and want to form a government, they should hear our inputs for the manifesto,” said the Bingkor assemblyman when asked on the Sabah Pakatan Harapan manifesto, which among others, promised a deputy prime minister for Sabah and Sarawak.
“You can’t offer such thing like deputy prime minister’s post without restructuring Malaysia, without having a new constitution and without reviewing the Malaysian agreement. Are they prepared to review the Malaysian agreement?” he asked.
Yesterday Pakatan Harapan Sabah unveiled its manifesto despite having no formal pact with other local opposition parties.
State chairman Christina Liew had said, the pact will start negotiations with other local parties after its coalition members sort out issues on seat allocations.
Liew admitted that there were overlapping interest between PKR and DAP who have been eyeing the same seats but expressed confidence that the issue can be resolved in Sabah.
She also pointed out there were parties that Pakatan Harapan may not work with, saying that some parties are not “the real opposition”.
“I know that people will ask us which party we would want to work with. Actually, we already have an idea on which party we want to work with but our doors are always open,” she told reporters at its Malaysia Day celebration cum the soft launching of the manifesto.
Also present in the press conference yesterday was Pakatan Harapan president cum PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
The six-point “New Deal for Sabah” Manifesto will among others promise the creation of a deputy prime minister post to represent east Malaysia in the federal government.
It also stated that Chief Minister can only hold office for two terms, restore Sabah’s rights and look into the power devolution process.
Liew noted that it might be impossible for Sabah to have a one-on-one fight in the next election, as there were twelve opposition parties in Sabah.
“Even if we can reach a pact with the other opposition parties in Sabah, there would be certain parties that would disagree,” the Api-Api assemblywoman said.
Meanwhile, Dr Wan Azizah admitted there were several informal talks between her and some local parties came straight to her to conduct negotiations.
Dr Wan Azizah however skirted the issue and warned that a disunited opposition coalition would hurt Pakatan Harapan’s chances in winning in GE14.