KOTA KINABALU: Two more Sabah DAP branches have folded amid a brewing crisis in the party’s Sandakan division following the resignation of Tanjung Papat assemblyman Datuk Frankie Poon.
Yii Villa branch chairman Mohd Faried Ismail and Happy Villa branch chairman Fadlisyam Ismail announced the decision of their branch members to quit the party en masse.
In a joint statement, the duo said the members of both branches made the decision unanimously without “any coercion, influence or pressure from any party”.
“We express deep disappointment with the leadership of Sabah DAP, which we see as increasingly straying from the party’s original spirit of struggle,” they said in the statement yesterday.
Poon, a former Sabah DAP chairman, and former DAP state organising chairman Liau Fui Fui quit on Saturday, accusing the current state leadership of attempting to undermine them.
Members of their two branches also quit en masse.
Mohd Faried and Fadlisyam claimed the current leadership failed to appreciate the services and sacrifices of veterans who have long fought on the front lines, contributing time, energy and dedication to the people of Sabah and the party.
“We have lost confidence in the ability of Sabah DAP’s leadership to champion the welfare of the people and defend the state’s rights under the Malaysia Agreement and the party’s founding spirit.
“The party’s direction is now perceived to prioritise certain groups rather than the shared cause,” the two said in the statement.
The resignations come ahead of the state election where DAP is preparing to defend the Tanjung Papat and Elopura seats in the Sandakan parliamentary constituency which they won in the 2020 state election.
Elopura assemblyman Calvin Chong quit the party four years ago to join Warisan while Poon remained with the party.
Political talk in Sandakan is that Poon is slated to be dropped by the state DAP leadership.
Among the DAP candidates widely speculated for Elopura and Tanjung Papat are Sandakan MP Vivian Wong and local community development officer Tang Szu Ching.
