THURSDAY-6TH DECEMBER 2007-JEFFREY QUESTIONS SINCERITY OF KDM LEADERS

Jeffrey questions sincerity of KDM leaders
KOTA KINABALU: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) State Steering Committee chairman Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan has questioned the sincerity of a few Kadazandusun Murut (KDM) leaders in the Barisan Nasional (BN) on the unity talk or ‘Mibabas’ in Tuaran recently.
“I question their sincerity because if they are serious about unity, they must be willing to do it and not because of political circumstances forced them to do it, and secondly it must be comprehensive and inclusive, to include everybody irrespective of their political affiliation,” he contended yesterday.
“It seems these BN parties did it for their own political end. What did they want to achieve, political unity in what form? They were united outside of BN before, but now divided under BN.
“Actually they are victims of the divide and rule system perpetrated by Umno. We welcome unity but let’s fight the regime that discriminates you,” he said.
Jeffrey said he was surprised at the fact that though Umno had discriminated these KDM leaders, they are supporting Umno still, even more united and closer with Umno now.
“If these leaders can’t do anything to help our people before, then what can they achieve when they are still in BN, supporting the discrimination and marginalization by Umno? They should join me in PKR to fight to get justice, then they can make a difference,” said the PKR vice-president.
On the goodwill ceremony (Pibabasan) itself, Dr Jeffrey, who is also one of KDCA’s three deputy presidents, said if they were sincere on ‘pibabasan’, then they should have done it according to the ‘adat’ (custom) and not just drinking ‘bahar’ to forget their differences.
“What kind of ‘pibabasan’ were they talking about when all they did was to drink bahar (coconut toddy).
“It is true, normally when one gets drunk of bahar he/she will forget everything. My point is what is their purpose and plans. Are they going to dissolve the other parties and unite under one party and if so who will become the leader?” he said.