By WU VUIDE
KOTA KINABALU: Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Sabah Star) has taken Sabah Umno Chief Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin to task for claiming that Sabah was politically unstable and economically stagnant before 1994.
Its Exco Wiramuda Chief, Jordan Jude Ellron, said the remark by Bung was not only inaccurate, but also dangerous.
“It attempts to rewrite Sabah’s history to justify continued federal control.
“In truth, the real reason for Sabah’s slow development was not local disunity.
“It was the failure to honour the Malaysia Agreement 1963,” he said in a statement.
Above all, he said it was the political betrayal of 1994, when the people voted for PBS and Umno took power through orchestrated defections.
“Claiming that Sabah only progressed under Umno is to insult generations of Sabahans who built this state with resilience, without the benefit of fair treatment or equal revenue,” he said.
He added that the birth of the “Sabah for Sabahans” slogan was a response to decades of neglect, and a call to reclaim dignity and shape a future guided by Sabahan hands.
For years, he said, Sabah Star President Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan had stood firm on this message.
“Even Umno President Dato’ Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has pointed fingers at Jeffrey, accusing him of fuelling this sentiment,” he said.
“That only proves its power. We, as Star members, wear that accusation with pride. If fighting for our state’s rights makes us guilty, then we are proud to be guilty.”
He said Sabah Star rejected any attempt to reintroduce Malaya-based parties as Sabah’s solution as the result is always the same.
“True unity is not built by bowing to external forces. It is built when Sabahans come together, regardless of party, to demand what is ours,” he said.
“Our 40 percent, our autonomy, and most importantly, our future.”
