BEAUFORT: The people of Sabah are now presented with yet another cheap episode of political conflict between the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) and Warisan, both eager to claim credit for development projects.
Beaufort UMNO Chief and Chairman of BN Beaufort, Datuk Awang Aslee Lakat, said that today one side claims, ‘that project is ours,’ while tomorrow the other side insists, ‘that is the result of our government’s work.’
“However, the real question is not who is responsible for the projects, but who actually has the people’s mandate to govern Sabah? The answer is simple: neither GRS nor Warisan has ever received a mandate from the people.
“The previous Warisan government was not formed through the people’s votes at the ballot box, but through the defection of six Members of the Legislative Assembly (ADUN). This is a betrayal of democratic principles.
“GRS, on the other hand, emerged not from a people’s mandate, but from political maneuvering after UMNO BN withdrew support for the GRS Chairman. It is not a strength derived from the people, but a coalition of personal interests to maintain power,” he said in a statement.
Awang Aslee, who is also the BN Coordinator for the Kuala Penyu constituency, explained that after years of wielding power without a mandate, both groups are still busy debating who has contributed more, while the real sufferers are the people.
“The roads are damaged, water and electricity supplies are unstable, and the cost of living is rising, yet they are more eager to claim credit on project signboards than to fulfill their responsibilities to the people.
“This is the politics of a ‘government without a mandate’ that is grand in the media but paralyzed at the grassroots level.
They are fighting to be seen as the saviors, while both have failed to restore the trust of the people of Sabah,” he concluded.
Source: UMNO Online
