(Petaling Jaya, Wednesday): DAP has decided not to contest the Sabah state elections which the Election Commission has fixed for March 12 and 13 with nomination day on Tuesday.
DAP calls on the Sabah voters to reject the Barisan Nasional and support the PBS to demand justice, freedom, democracy and good governance.
It is a matter of legitimate concern as to whether the Sabah state elections could be free, fair and clean, especially as there is the massive problem of phantom voters.
The fixing of a 10-day campaign, which is even shorter than the 1994 election campaign, is clearly designed to benefit the Barisan Nasional at the expense of the Opposition.
For this reason, I support the call by the PBS President, Datuk Joseph Pairin Kitingan for observers to monitor elections in Sabah next month - both national and international so that Sabah elections could be a model of clean, free and fair elections in Malaysia.
DAP calls on the Barisan Nasional Federal Ministers not to abuse their public office by using the taxpayers’ money to campaign in Sabah and during the entire state elections campaign, there should be no announcement, approval, allocation or grant of Federal funds for any development project in the state.
Sabah has the notoriety of having the most number of "frog" politicians, who jump from one party to another. It may be symbolic that one of the chief UMNO campaigners sent from Kuala Lumpur is the most outstanding "frog politician" in Peninsular Malaysia.
The DAP has decided to stay out of the Sabah state elections as we want to prepare for the Parliamentary elections in Sabah state. DAP National Organising Secretary, Kerk Kim Hock, has been assigned the responsibility to reorganise Sabah DAP to prepare for the party’s contest in the parliamentary constituencies in Sabah in the next general elections.
Kerk will visit Sabah within the next two weeks and will take the opportunity to observe the Sabah state elections.
(24/2/99)