KOTA KINABALU – A DAP leader from Sabah has called for a leadership transition in Pakatan Harapan (PH) at the national level, saying that the coalition needs a new “captain” to help it rejuvenate before the 15th general election (GE15) due by September 2023.
Newly minted Sabah DAP secretary Phoong Jin Zhe, who is also state PH youth chief, said that the coalition is breaking apart from disagreements at present.
“I believe in two things. One, we (the opposition) should ultimately unite everyone to face the upcoming uphill battles in GE15,” he said.
Unity means everyone in the opposition, including Warisan, Pejuang and Muda.
“Secondly, I’m of the opinion that PH chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim should seriously consider that PH undergoes a leadership transition – to enable new expectations, and meet the aspirations and new hopes from the people of Malaysia.
“This means we should have a new captain for the national opposition alliance,” Phoong told The Vibes.
He refused to state the reasons PH should have a leadership change, but pointed out that the leadership transition should be for Anwar only as “he is the captain, and therefore, must initiate this”.
Phoong had emerged as DAP’s new state secretary following the party election at Sabah DAP convention in Sandakan on Saturday.
The event was attended by DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.
Of late, some PH actions have earned brickbats from leaders of Warisan.
The Sabah-based party’s deputy president Datuk Darell Leiking accused PH leadership of stopping their MPs from standing with those from Warisan for the bloc vote on Budget 2022 in the Dewan Rakyat last Thursday.
He said that PH MPs’ failure to also oppose it has led to the “unfair” budget to be passed at the policy level.
Leiking, who is Penampang MP and a former federal minister, blamed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the government and PH in September, saying it has put the coalition “on a leash”.
Lim admitted to having allowed Budget 2022 to pass at the policy level, saying this is in the effort to push for the restoration of the rights of Sabah and Sarawak, which is part of the MoU.
He said PH objected to many parts of Budget 2022. These objections will be brought to the committee stage targeted at the respective ministries, he said, adding that the objections are against certain allocations, not the budget in the entirety.
But Warisan Youth chief Datuk Mohd Azis Jamman and Leiking do not take this matter lightly and have slammed the top leadership of PH.
Warisan’s state assemblyman for Tanjung Aru, Datuk Junz Wong, also claimed PH’s loss in the Melaka election is the result of signing a pact with the government.
Their resentments largely stem from the lower special grant payment to Sabah and Sarawak, and also the RM10 million allocation to help preserve the culture and heritage of the people in states that is lower than the RM200 million allocation for the Chinese community and RM145 million for the Indian community.
However, Phoong clarified that his call for leadership change in PH is not necessarily due to any mistakes or wrongdoing on its part. It is also not meant to call for Anwar to take ownership for PH’s recent trouncing in the Melaka polls.
He said the idea of leadership transition is aimed at giving PH a chance to improve itself.
This is not the first time Phoong has asked for a top leadership change in PH.
The Luyang assemblyman had made the call in December last year, citing Anwar’s failure to deliver on his claim of having sufficient backing from MPs to form a new government.
“The opposition leader’s so-called ‘strong, formidable and convincing’ majority did not turn up and the idea of building a coalition with Umno has also been doubted by many,” he had then said.
Incidentally, another DAP lawmaker, Lee Chin Chen, the assemblyman for Bilut in Pahang, had earlier yesterday called on Anwar to step down as the opposition leader.
The Pahang DAP secretary said PH should consider new directions and consensus in view of its heavy defeat in the Melaka polls. – The Vibes, November 23, 2021
