Another wake-up call to national leadership: Yong
KOTA KINABALU:
The sudden resignation of Datuk Abdul Ghapur Salleh as Deputy Natural Resources and Environment Minister should serve as another wake-up call to the national leadership to re-look at Sabah and Sarawak’s representation in the central administration, said SAPP President Datuk Seri Panglima Yong Teck Lee yesterday. He said that the veteran politician from Sabah who won the Kalabakan parliamentary seat uncontested in the recent general election, must have good reasons for quitting from his post. Yong recounted that when .Ghapur was a Deputy Chief Minister cum Minister of Finance in the State Cabinet in 1996-1998 when the former was the Chief Minister, Ghapur also abruptly resigned. Although Ghapur did not announce the reasons (which in that case was not related to governmental duties), Yong said that Ghapur normally had good and sound reasons for resigning. “Although he latter retracted his resignation from the State Cabinet then after meeting the then Prime Minister, this time it looks like Datuk Ghapur will not retract his resignation. “I guess that he also has good reasons. He has served in various capacities in the State Government and is a veteran and senior politician, having been an assemblyman ever since the Berjaya era in the 1970s. In Parliament, although he is a second term MP, he commands much attention from other MPs,” said Yong. According to the former Chief Minister, Ghapur’s resignation reiterates the growing view even in Kuala Lumpur and among Umno circles that Sabah deserves more recognition and respect from the national leadership and the BN. “Although it is sad to see Datuk Ghapur resign, and hence Sabah has lost yet another post in the Federal Government, I hope this latest resignation will be another wake-up call to the national leadership to relook Sabah and also Sarawak. “This is a once in a life time for Sabah and Sarawak to prove themselves in the national coalition,” Yong added.
