Mandela
KOTA KINABALU: Kadazan Dusun Murut (KDM) parties must stay focused on their struggle for indigenous communities and Sabahans in general.
They must not be led to fall into Parti Warisan Sabah’s political agenda, opined National Armada Bersatu’s Vice Chief Ceasar Mandela Malakun.
Mandela in a statement on Monday claimed that Warisan President Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal has been engaging in bait and divide politics in an attempt to cause a rift among leaders within the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition and consequently destabilize the state government.
So, they should be wary of the olive branch he is offering for supposedly the good of Sabah, said Mandela who is also Political Secretary to the Chief Minister.
Mandela said there is no reason why any of the GRS component parties would want to work with Shafie and Warisan whose ideology and approach to governance contradicts theirs.
He pointed out that indigenous communities and Sabahans in general have always made a strong stand against Warisan’s stance on illegal immigrants and fought tooth and nail against the Sabah Temporary Pass (PSS) proposed by the latter when they helmed the government.
“They have always sent a clear message – and will always will – that no Sabahan would ever ‘gadai’ (pawn) our beloved state to the illegal immigrants. Sabah is ours. We need to protect this state for the good of our future generations.
“I’m always mindful that we, the present generation of native Sabahans, only borrow our beloved state from our children and future generation. So, we shoulder the responsibility to take care of it for their interest as well as ours.
Sabahans have had enough with the illegal immigrant issue that has been haunting us for generations,” he said.
“We should never forget that the KDM voters played a key role in the demise of Shafie’s regime. They obviously underestimated the KDM communities and were over confident they could capture as many seats in indigenous territories,” he pointed out.
Mandela also claimed that Warisan’s campaign was lackluster in KDM areas and alleged that their partner, UPKO, was simply powerless as they did not know how to handle the dissatisfactions and anger of the people toward the Warisan-led government at the time, especially on the illegal immigrant issue.
Because it shared the same bed with Warisan, UPKO, who was given more seats to contest by Shafie, was punished severely by the KDM. They were almost wiped out. Even their president Datuk Wilfred Madius Tangau lost, he pointed out.
To him, Shafie’s Warisan-led government’s defeat in the last state election was truly a victory for indigenous people in Sabah.
“Let us cherish this hard fought victory. Let us not throw it away. But we must never rest on our laurels because the issue of illegal immigrants remains a giant battle for us. While we continue to fight this battle, KDM leaders must also be in one heart and mind in their struggle for the indigenous communities and Sabahans in general. We must rise. We must progress. We must prosper. Because Sabah is ours and this is our home.
“Let us never forget that the KDM communities are still lagging behind in development. Many are still living below the poverty line in their own home state. Infrastructure development in indigenous territories is still largely lacking. Our leaders must commit to empowering them.
“KDM leaders must never let Shafie and Warisan to blind us from this mission by playing his dangerous political games. In fact, KDM leaders must refrain completely from entertaining his statements or any of the Warisan leaders in the media. They do not merit attention,” Mandela said adding, “The focus now is on Sabah and Sabahans.”