PAS’ nominated assemblyman will debunk misconceptions, says PBS

KOTA KINABALU: PBS president Maximus Ongkili is confident Sabah PAS secretary Aliakbar Gulasan will use his position as a nominated assemblyman to disprove misconceptions of the party in the state.

While understanding the public’s concerns over the appointment of a PAS member as one of the six nominated assemblymen, the Kota Marudu MP called on the people to trust the decision of Chief Minister Hajiji Noor.

“I call on the people of Sabah to unite, cooperate and give all their support to Hajiji and his new Cabinet,” he said in a statement here today.

“Our desire is nothing less than to see Sabah develop more, prosper exceedingly and strengthen, fully united under the new government of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS).

“We, too, look forward to working with the PAS representative who has a good background in academia.”

Earlier today, Sabah DAP’s Kapayan representative Jannie Lasimbang called on PBS and STAR to pull out of the GRS state government after Aliakbar was named as one of the six nominated assemblymen.

Lasimbang said STAR and PBS supporters would not have agreed with having a PAS man appointed to the state assembly, adding that the parties’ presidents had earlier given assurances this would not happen.

Ongkili, who is Sabah and Sarawak affairs minister, said PBS had stated its stand from the beginning over setting a precedent of appointing a representative from a Malaya-based religious party as a member of the state assembly without even having participated in the election.

“We hear loud and clear the unhappiness of the Sabah public, politicians and general public. As I have informed the public in my statement earlier, we have raised this matter with the top leaders of Perikatan Nasional. They have given their explanation.

“Nevertheless, we maintain our original position that there was no need to set a precedent for the appointment given the concerns on the religious ground,” he said.

Ongkili said given that the appointment had been made, PBS would assume its role as a monitor and provide a check and balance to ensure that the concerns of the Sabah public would be addressed.