KOTA KINABALU: Upko has pulled out of the Pakatan Harapan coalition with immediate effect and has expressed willingness to work with Sabah-based parties.
The announcement came after the party’s supreme council special meeting last night, just days to nomination day for the Sabah election, which is on Saturday.
Upko secretary-general Datuk Nelson Angang said the party came to the decision after considering its participation in Pakatan over the past four years and also the call by Sabahans for local parties to unite in the coming election.
“The withdrawal is of immediate effect. This decision will be officially conveyed to the Pakatan chairman and its component parties,” he said in a statement.
Upko’s withdrawal came hours after its president Datuk Ewon Benedick submitted his official resignation as Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Angang said the decision stemmed from simmering disappointment over the national coalition implementation of Malaysia Agreement 1963 and the state’s 40% revenue entitlement.
Upko, he said, is now ready to cooperate with local parties that wish to jointly champion the Sabah First agenda so that the actual implementation of MA63, including the 40% entitlement, can be pursued more effectively.
“Upko believes that good relations between the Federal and Sabah governments must be based on the spirit, purpose, essence, and implementation of MA63,” he said in a statement.
Angang said the supreme council also endorsed Ewon’s decision to quit as he did not agree with the stance and views of the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) throughout the Judicial Review proceedings related to Sabah’s 40% revenue entitlement.
He said throughout the four years with Pakatan, Upko consistently placed the Sabah First agenda at the centre of discussions within the administration of the unity government and negotiations concerning the coalition’s election manifesto.
However, he said differences in interpretation, views and positions emerged between Upko and other Pakatan component parties at national level regarding Sabah’s revenue entitlement, the demand for one-third of parliamentary seats for Sabah and Sarawak, and the failure to implement administrative autonomy for Sabah Pakatan.
Angang said the Sabah Pakatan chairmanship was decided through its general assembly which voted for Ewon as chairman.
However, this was never accepted by the Pakatan presidential council following objections from Sabah PKR, he claimed.
“Upko even faced open criticism despite the decision being made through an election conducted by administrators from the Pakatan headquarters.
“Subsequently, our president was only appointed as a ‘coordinator’, while decisions related to election preparations for the coalition was made by PKR without genuine autonomy for Sabah Pakatan, contradicting earlier announcements,” Angang said.
He said Upko has since reassessed its struggle and concluded that “only local parties truly understand the heartbeat, spirit, vision and future aspirations of Sabah”.
“Both Upko MPs, Datuk Ewon Benedick and Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau, will continue to uphold the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s decree that the stability of the Federal Government must be maintained until the end of this term,” Angang said.
