KOTA KINABALU: The efforts of Sabah Barisan Nasional leaders to fight for the rights of the state as contained in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) was part of the reason why the interests of Sabah has prominence in the BN election manifesto.
Sabah BN secretary Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan said what was contained in the manifesto was not merely something to be discussed, but involved the devolution of power from the Federal government to Sabah over the next five years.
“The efforts (of Sabah BN leaders) were to represent the voice of the people of Sabah and this finally allowed certain things regarding the rights of the state to be put into the BN manifesto. At last, what we wanted in the manifesto with regards to MA63 has been put in, as well as the approval for Sabah to have English-medium schools.
“I am saying this now, during election season, so that more people know how we have represented the voice of the people of Sabah to claim our rights and how Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has listened to us and included these in the BN manifesto,” he said.
Rahman was speaking at the launch of the southwest coast edition of the Yayasan Sabah Roadshow.
Present was state Community Development and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Jainab Ahmad, who is also BN candidate for the Karambunai state seat.
Rahman said it was hoped that the BN manifesto would be a guide for the people to make the right choice come May 9.
“We in BN go straight to the point because we don’t want to win votes by playing on hatreds on emotions... ‘vote me because so-and-so is cruel’. BN is not like this... we offer policies which touch on the economy, education, development of women and children.
“We must remember that there is not a single country in the world which can develop when the chosen government is based on hatred.”
As such, Rahman called on the opposition to stop politicking by calling BN”evil” or “cruel”, but to compete based on policies which both sides are offering to the rakyat.