Hafidz Baharom, The Malaysian Insider
The recent crossovers of three senior Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders into Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) ranks signal they have lost confidence in the ruling coalition’s leadership and the widespread taint of corruption at both state and federal levels, the DAP’s Lim Guan Eng said today.
The federal opposition leader was responding to the latest defection of Senator Datuk Maijol Mahap, who was a vice-president in BN’s Sabah-based United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (UPKO), yesterday who pledged support for the PR pact, marking the third BN leader to quit in a month.
“As I said, they are disappointed with the unjust treatment by the federal government, disappointed with the chief minister of Sabah and the BN state government and sick with the widespread bribery in the state,” the Penang chief minister told reporters in George Town.
The Malaysian Insider received an audio recording of the news conference.
Lim said the defections of the trio were clear signs that Sabahans were fed-up with the unfair treatment by both the state government as well as Putrajaya, which they saw as tainted with corruption.
Sabah’s ranking as the country’s poorest state was proof that corruption was widespread there, the DAP secretary-general said.
“This, we can all see through the state having the highest poverty rate in the country at 20 per cent.
“We can all see the wealth of Sabah, but behind this wealth is the highest poverty rate in the country,” he said.
Yesterday, Maijol joined two other former Sabah BN veterans — Tuaran MP Datuk Seri Wilfred Mojilip Bumburing, formerly UPKO deputy president, and Beaufort MP Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin, formerly an Umno supreme council members — in leaving the ruling coalition to side PR in the run-up to key national polls that could see a regime change for the first time in 55 years.
Both Sabah and Sarawak are widely seen as vote banks that have helped the BN maintain power.
Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has said there will be more BN leaders who will be coming to bat for PR in the next few weeks.
