KOTA KINABALU – Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) will keep PAS nominated assemblyman Aliakbar Gulasan in check, said Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili tonight, following the appointment that led to unease in the state.
The PBS president, in a statement, gave an assurance that his party will ensure all concerns raised over the appointment are addressed.
“We, too, look forward to working with the PAS representative, who has a good background in academia and hails from Tenom in Sabah’s interior.
“I am confident that Aliakbar will seek to disprove the wrong perception people have of PAS.”
Nonetheless, he said, PBS maintains its stance that the appointment should not have been made.
Aliakbar, who is secretary of the Islamist party’s state chapter, was sworn in as assemblyman at the state palace earlier today, despite widespread calls for the new Gabungan Rakyat Sabah government not to appoint PAS leaders.
“We hear loud and clear the unhappiness of the Sabah public and that of politicians.
“We share their misgivings and concerns about the setting of this precedent, whereby a member of a peninsula-based religious party is appointed to the state assembly without even having participated in the (state) election.
“We have raised this matter with the top leaders of Perikatan Nasional. They have given their explanation,” he said, without elaborating. – The Vibes, October 8, 2020
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