Upko Youth welcomes proposal for opposition parties to join PH

Felix Joseph Saang

26 Aug 2021

By Wartawan Nabalu News

KOTA KINABALU: The United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (Upko) Youth has welcomed Pakatan Harapan (PH)'s proposal that all opposition parties should work together and join the coalition.

Its chief Felix Joseph Saang said this proposal warrants serious consideration from all opposition parties for a common agenda which is to provide a real and solid alternative for the people to choose as their next government in the upcoming 15th General Election (GE15).

"As for Upko Youth, we will always stand firmly behind the party. This can be seen in our decision to stand by the top leadership’s decision to leave Barisan Nasional (BN) and become a PH-friendly party on May 10, 2018. That was a principled decision which still remains until today," he said in a statement today.

While the support of 105 MPs for PKR President Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was not enough to elevate him as the Prime Minister following Tan Sri Mahiaddin Yassin's resignation, Felix said in hindsight there is room for improvement.

"There is no doubt that in the beginning, there was a bit of internal competition and confusion in the opposition itself on the selection of the Prime Minister candidate, which had ultimately hurt all the parties in the opposition.

"However, that was in the past. Let this be a lesson to us all. Let us not repeat the same mistake, especially in GE15.

"Therefore, UPKO Youth calls on all the other opposition parties to accept the proposal. The opposition must first settle their differences among themselves before they can come up with common policies and effective plans in taking the country forward, such as the handling of the pandemic and the recovery of the economy."

He asserted that the opposition does not have much time left as the election could be coming anytime soon and therefore must be prepared with its grassroots start acting now.

"It is high time for the opposition parties to unite. We must act as one voice.

"On behalf of UPKO Youth, we as one of the party’s wings will remain steadfast in our stand to support the top leadership’s decision to work with parties that fight for multi-racial ideologies and pursue the same agenda. This is very much in line with the rebranding of the party.

"We at the Youth level will continue to work with UPKO’s members and leaders in their struggle to defend Malaysia, so that the people will enjoy freedom and development, regardless of their race and religion," he stated.