Sabah PKR has hit out at Perikatan Nasional (PN), accusing it of “getting big-headed” despite lacking power in the state, after its secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin called for chief minister Hajiji Noor’s removal from leadership.
In a post on Facebook yesterday, the party said the content of Hamzah’s ceramah in Tawau last Friday was “outdated rhetoric aimed at inflaming hatred, in line with the extremist and racist politics practised by PN”.
“The saying ‘belum berkuku hendak mencubit (seeking to pinch without claws)’ accurately describes PN’s attitude in Sabah – it has not gained power yet, but has become big-headed.
“Sabah’s people are not interested in hateful and slanderous politics. PN has done enough to upturn national political stability. Don’t bring (your politics) to Sabah,” it said.
In his speech, Hamzah had called for Sabah’s people to return power to PN, and to reject Hajiji, whom he said had governed the state for the sake of his own interests instead of the people’s.
“Hajiji, you should stop making promises to us. We no longer believe in you – not just in terms of power or water – because you have forgotten your duty (to the state),” he said.
However, Sabah PKR said the state and federal governments were taking “aggressive steps” to resolve the state’s power and water issues in the long term.
It said that phase two of the RM379 million Telibong water treatment plant II project would likely be completed by the fourth quarter of this year.
“The RM2 billion Papar dam has had its environmental impact statement approved and is in the early stages of construction.
“RM500 million has also been allocated to upgrade the rural electricity distribution system in Sabah via the 2024 state budget,” it said.
Sabah PKR said when PN was in federal power, it did not approve any concrete plans to resolve these issues, and ignored the state government’s demand for autonomy over its electricity supply.
“The current federal government has already agreed to hand over autonomy over the management of Sabah’s electricity supply and Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd to the Sabah government, a historic move towards energy autonomy that saw no effort from PN before this,” it said.
