TODAY is the 15th of October, 2022. The newspapers have yet to crystallise any clear decisions on any particular subject pertaining to the general elections, nor about the future of Sabah or Malaysia.
Gabungan Rakyat Sabah had a meeting with Barisan Nasional but has yet to come to any conclusion regarding how many parliamentary seats each group will stand in. There are 25 seats to be filled with candidates. The only party that has declared it will stand in 25 seats is Warisan, which has also announced its first candidate for Sipitang.
It is clear that there will be a continued tussle for seats for a few weeks! But it seems that the Parti Bersatu Sabah president has already announced that it will go along using the GRS symbol for the parliamentary elections.
It is to be noted that the parliamentary elections are very important and significant when it comes to the coming parliamentary session after the elections, particularly in the context of Sabah’s rights within the MA63 agreement.
What this means is that the people’s focus is to emphasise and protect Sabah’s rights and interests through the voices of the 25 seats – 26 if you include Labuan – and elected parliamentarians from Sabah in Parliament.
In theory, our Sabah MPs must be of one voice and direction as far as protecting Sabah’s rights, interests, and its sovereignty goes, so that we cannot simply be bullied by the powers that be in Parliament who have given us no opportunity to release ourselves in Sabah from a neo-colonial situation since the British gave us away to Malaya!
Hence, in order to approach our role in Parliament with one voice, we need to stand and deliver together as brothers and sisters! We should emulate Sarawak! And our leaders have been saying that they will work closely with Sarawak. That is indeed beautiful and well said! Let us then consider this unified approach seriously so that our thoughts can be turned into active and positive action producing the same-shaped product!
Towards this end, let us also be guided by voices from the grassroots.
From what we have gathered so far, the grassroots are telling us that in these parliamentary elections, we need to elect and prefer local parties that aim more to protect Sabah’s rights and interests, over parties from outside that have other agendas and are focused less on protecting Sabah’s rights and future than on power and control over Sabah.
The grassroots say: enough is enough! Who will make the decisions in these parliamentary elections? Of course, it is the rakyat! They are the voters and it would be their responsibility to decide appropriately.
But how will the voters be guided? There are so many political parties in Sabah! And it looks like many candidates will stand to represent their respective political parties.
To be fair to the voters, especially of the younger generation, they must have it in their minds to protect Sabah and its future, as well as the safety and development of the future generation! They must prefer and make up their minds to support and vote for candidates representing local political parties who clearly are geared, ready, and prepared to fight for Sabah and its future, and do not have any hidden agendas disadvantageous to Sabah and its future generations!
Another very important guidance is to avoid the influence of monetary or material political bait. These incidents have happened before in elections. Learn from past experience. Be guided by your wisdom and common sense. Think of your future and the future of Sabah.
In a democratic system, any political party or individual citizen for that matter can participate in any election. Any candidate can stand in any constituency and promise all sorts of promises. But all candidates depend on the voters to win. If the voters vote for a candidate with a majority number of votes, that candidate wins. It is up to the voters to bring about the desired results! You, as a registered voter, have that very important responsibility to vote for the right person or political party.
Sabah’s future is in your hands! Let us, voters, vote wisely! Make the decision for Sabah!
And as this is an election for Sabah at the parliamentary level, let us hope and pray that all the MPs elected from Sabah will defend and protect Sabah’s rights, interests, sovereignty, and future when they appear and represent Sabah in Parliament!
Let us hope that our MPs can close ranks and form the parliamentary caucus so that a proper and coordinated approach can be done when voicing unity in Parliament for and on behalf of Sabah and its future generations! – The Vibes, October 16, 2022
Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan was the Sabah chief minister from April 1985 to 1994, and is the paramount leader of the Kadazandusun community
