KOTA KINABALU – Former Sabah chief minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak has lashed out against Parti Bersatu Sabah’s (PBS) president Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili, accusing the latter of slandering Barisan Nasional (BN) over the Project IC fiasco.
Speaking at the Sabah BN Convention, the Umno stalwart said he was furious over Ongkili’s statement that the ruling federal coalition was involved in giving migrants identification cards (IC) before they were redesignated as MyKad.
“He (Ongkili) is crazy. He made a statement that there was a component in BN that was part of the fake MyKad (syndicate). This is slander. If he mentions BN’s name, we will lodge a police report against him.
“The royal commission of inquiry (RCI) never mentioned who (was responsible). It was merely reports and investigations,” he said to a crowd of around 5,000 BN supporters.
Yesterday, Ongkili, who is a member of BN Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s cabinet, said that a BN component party giving out Malaysian identity cards is threatening Malaysia’s sovereignty, and the matter was stated in the RCI report.
Salleh said Ongkili was being ungrateful by slandering BN, after BN’s election machinery had helped him secure his seat as Kota Marudu MP.
“Don’t be ungrateful. Don’t get emotional. Remember (BN’s) good grace. Today he said BN is the worst (paling jahat), but does he know who the prime minister is? The prime minister is from BN,” he said.
The RCI on undocumented migrants in Sabah was formed in 2012 to investigate the problems regarding citizenship and immigrants in Sabah.
Earlier, Salleh stressed that BN was the pioneer in the fight to claim Sabah’s rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963.
He said other parties such as PBS and Warisan are now acting as if they are the heroes on the issue, but it was BN that had started advancing that cause during Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s time as the prime minister.
He asked Ismail Sabri to include BN members in the committee that is fighting for Sabah’s rights because BN has been a prominent advocate of the issue.
Commenting on Warisan as Sabah’s opposition party, Salleh said whatever Warisan can do, BN can do better, but Warisan cannot do what BN can do because BN holds Putrajaya and is able to make important decisions including bringing development to Sabah.
“Warisan (its president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal) is now saying that they will join whichever party wins the election, they are clearly only taking advantage.
“Only by making sure that BN wins big can the nation achieve stability, bringing in investors and creating job opportunities for the people,” he said.
He also told the attendees that BN now promotes autonomy, as Sabah BN’s chairman Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin’s position is higher and more powerful than the position he and Tan Sri Musa Aman held when they were chief ministers. – The Vibes, July 2, 2022
