the end justify the means...

from: thestar.com.my

SAPP's vote of no confidence against PM

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) has lost confidence in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, it said at a press conference here Wednesday.

In the coming sitting of the Parliament session on Monday, its two Members of Parliament will support a vote of no confidence against the Prime Minister, the party said.

Whether its MPs table the vote of no confidence, or whether other MPs will do it, would be determined in due course, it said in a statement.

SAPP’s two MPs are Datuk Eric Enchin Majimbun (P171 Sepanggar) and Datuk Dr Chua Soon Bui (P190 Tawau).

The party also has four state representatives.

The statement was read out by Dr Chua and signed by Majimbun, who was overseas on official duties. He will be back for the Parliament sitting next Monday, June 23.

The statement listed four areas of dissatisfaction with Abdullah's premiership:

1) That no concrete action had been taken on the issue of illegal immigrants, despite repeated requests by SAPP and other Barisan component parties;

2) That the government had offered no holistic economic solutions to cushion the blow of the sudden hike in fuel prices, which had greatly burdened the people and threatened further hardcore poverty;

3) That not enough attention had been paid to issues raised by the people of Sabah -- poor delivery systems, corruption, wastage, lack of transparency and accountability -- and that SAPP would have failed in its duty as elected representatives if these issues continued to be ignored; and

4) That the people have lost confidence in Abdullah, and that if he can't perform, he should step aside and make way for another leader to take over.

Talk had been rife Wednesday morning that SAPP was going to abandon the Barisan Nasional coalition and defect to the Pakatan Rakyat alliance.

The party is running a poll on its blog, asking members of the public whether it should stay on in Barisan, leave the coalition but remain independent, or join Pakatan.

At press time, there were 2,828 votes tallied, with 85% (2,411 votes) asking SAPP to join Pakatan. Only 2% (80 votes) urged it to stay on with Barisan, while the remainder suggested it quit Barisan but remained unaligned.

my thoughts:

shocking but kind of expected. that was my reaction when a friend sms the news to me at about 2pm. expected coz this has been bandied around for sometime.

one thing is clear now. all the visits, and meetings between PM Abdullah Badawi and Sabah leaders in the last few months have failed. the damage control is down the drain. plus the 'gifts' to Sabah announced by PM Abdullah Badawi recently eg: abolishment of JPPS, the establishment of SDO, additional grant of RM 1 billion, establishment of Cabinet Committee to tackle illegal immigrants etc etc, have failed to appease some leaders. mind you, the announcement was made by PM Abdullah Badawi on 31 May 2008 - barely 3 weeks ago.

so what next? that is not clear as yet.

1. would they succeed with the vote of no confidence, if they were able to table it in the first place? i dont think so. SAPP is a small party. their representation in Parliament is very small. as such, their clout/influence is minimal. i believe they know that they would not succeed. but even before they actually table it in Parliament, they have succeeded. embarassing PM Abdullah Badawi!

2. should BN take any action against SAPP? definitely. SAPP has been naughty. their action is against the spirit of BN. and they must be punished. no two way about it. plus an action against SAPP would preserve the equilibrium and sanity in BN.

3. would BN take action against SAPP? they have to. by proposing to table the vote of no confidence, and staying put in BN, SAPP is actually saying " I dare you to take action against me!" therefore, BN must take action against SAPP. no action means no balls. as simple as that.

4. what action? expel SAPP from BN. anything less is a joke.


so do i agree with this action by SAPP? nope.

the end justify the means?! tepuk dada tanya selera. burrghhh..i am full now. :)