Upko Party President and Sabah Pakatan Harapan Chairman Datuk Ewon Benedick (seventh from right) cuts a cake as a symbol of Upko's 31st Anniversary celebration at the Sabah International Convention Centre on Friday (May 2). -- Bernama Pic
KOTA KINABALU: United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (Upko) will defend the Kadamaian state seat and aims to win additional seats in the upcoming 17th Sabah State Election, says its president, Datuk Ewon Benedick.
Ewon, who is also Sabah Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman, said as a component party of Pakatan, Upko would certainly contest in the election and was already preparing, while internal Pakatan discussions and informal talks continued with other coalitions.
"Our decisions must be grounded in the party's founding purpose and guided by wisdom and strategic rationale, focusing on the future of Sabah and its people.
"We have been part of the Malaysian Federation for 62 years. This is a long enough period to reflect on our progress in infrastructure, economy, governance, cooperation, and our collective attitude in Sabah," he said in his speech at Upko's 31st anniversary dinner here on Friday night (May 2).
Ewon, who won the Kadamaian seat with a majority of 3,459 votes in a six-cornered contest in the previous state election, said this state election should be a measure of the unity of Sabahans as well as political leadership in the state.
Ewon said Upko would collaborate with like-minded parties, both Sabah-based and national, while advocating unity in upcoming state election negotiations.
“In 1963, Sabah decided to join the Malaysian Federation, so let us now improve and build this country together. The representation of Sabah leaders must continue to be part of the Federal Government as envisioned in MA63 (Malaysia Agreement 1963).
"To achieve this, we must first strengthen Sabahans' sense of belonging towards their state government," he said.
He said key concerns related to this sense of belonging included strengthening and improving the composition of the state civil service, appointments in agencies and statutory bodies, scholarship distribution, the quality of Sabah's administrative delivery system, interfaith relations and state legislation.
Therefore, Ewon said unity and political cohesion among all parties in Sabah were essential, stressing that a confrontational approach would not benefit Sabah nor help shape its future.
"What matters is how this broad political unity in Sabah becomes an asset in negotiating major things required by Sabahans, whether those included in MA63 or the Malaysian development plans," he added. – Bernama
