Sabah opposition bloc formed entirely by multiracial parties compared to GRS - Ewon

Datuk Ewon Benedick

1 Sept 2021

By Wartawan Nabalu News

PENAMPANG: Vice President of the United Kinabalu Progressive Organisation (UPKO) Datuk Ewon Benedick said the opposition bloc in the Sabah State Assembly now entirely comprises multiracial parties.

He said the Sabah opposition bloc with representatives in the state assembly consists of UPKO, Warisan, DAP and PKR which are all multiracial parties.

"We will maintain the opposition bloc's cooperation as multiracial parties which have the same aspirations and vision," he said during the Aspirasi UPKO Bersama Pakatan Harapan webinar, just now.

According to Ewon who is also Kadamaian State Assemblyman, the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) government bloc which consists of Barisan Nasional (BN), Perikatan Nasional (PN), and Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) still implement practices that are race- and religion-based.

"BN still has race-based component parties, namely UMNO, MCA and MIC. Meanwhile, PN has PAS, a religion-based party. For the first time in the history of Sabah, GRS has brought PAS into the state assembly.

"This is what the people of Sabah need to think of properly and thoroughly, whether this race- and religion-based party should be the backbone of the state government administration in the future when we pose as a model of state that has good multiracial and multi-religion relations in this country," he asserted.

He added that UPKO's decision to officially join Pakatan Harapan (PH) would not affect cooperation among the Sabah opposition bloc.

"This cooperation is not new, it did not exist only yesterday. It has existed since 2018 after UPKO established the State Government at that time with Warisan and Pakatan Harapan spearheaded by Datuk Shafia Apdal as the chief minister. Even today, Datuk Shafie is still our leader of the Opposition in the state assembly."

The reform agenda and people's issues will continue to be the main priority of the opposition bloc consisting of multiracial parties, he added.

"The opposition bloc will also continue to cooperate in the role of check and balance on the GRS government.

"Meanwhile, in every state assembly sitting, we will raise the people's issues and submit proposals to improve the government's administration and Sabah's autonomy rights.

"Datuk Shafie as the leader of the opposition will lead the cooperation of the opposition bloc in this state assembly," Ewon stressed.