by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General .and MP for Tanjong, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Java on Thursday, 23rdJune.1994:
The first 100 days of Barisan Nasional State Government of Sabah are 100 days of disenchantment and broken pledges
When Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, launched the Barisan Nasional Sabah state general elections manifesto on 8th February 1994, he promised that a Barisan Nasional Sabah state government would bring about major changes In Sabah in its first 100 days.
The Barisan Nasional Sabah State Government was sworn in on 17th March 1994 and tomorrow, June 24, will be its full first 100 days.
Has the Barisan Nasional Sabah State Government fulfilled its promise to bring about major changes in Sabah by its first 100 days?
The answer will have to be a thumping ‘no’, for the first- 100 days of the Barisan Nasional State Government in 1994 are 100 days of disenchantment and broken pledges.
Sabahans in particular and Malaysians in general will remember that in the Sabah state general elections, the Barisan Nasional made corruption as the main issue – that the people of Sabah must reject corrupt leaders!
The whole Barisan Nasional election campaign was one of the most cynical election campaigns in Malaysian history, for although it featured corruption as one of the main election issues, the Barisan Nasional general elections campaign in Sabah was one of the dirtiest election campaigns in terms of the hundreds of million of ringgit which were disbursed – until money was literally thrown from helicopters in remote areas!
Has the Barisan Nasional Sabah state government made significant breakthroughs in the fight against corruption in its first 100 days?
There is no doubt that in the first 100 days of Barisan Nasional Sabah State Government, there had been ‘fantastic’ developments on the corruption front.
I am referring to the quick clearance of former Sabah Foundation director, Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan of all corruption charges which had been preferred against him.
Last Tuesday, on 14th June 1994, the Kota Kinabalu High Court acquitted Jeffrey – who had been released on the hefty-sum of RM 1 million bail – of seven corruption charges.
Jeffrey Kitingan was acquitted not because there was a full trial and the court found him innocent, but because the Deputy Public Prosecutor, Ahmad Rosli Sham, withdrew the charges without giving reasons.
All the seven corruption charges preferred against Jeffrey are very serious charges, and this was why Jeffrey was given a million-ringgit bail!
The Attorney-General’s Chambers must explain in Parliament why Jeffrey was charged with seven serious counts on corruption when there are no basis as to require their withdrawal without reasons
I am not suggesting that Jeffrey is guilty of the seven corruption charges preferred against him, but certainly something is very wrong when without reasons, the DPP could withdraw all the seven serious corruption charges made against Jeffrey.
If the DPP had acted properly and correctly in withdrawing the seven corruption charges against Jeffrey because the charges were unfounded, then the Attorney-General’s Chambers owe the people of Sabah and Malaysia a full explanation as to why Jeffrey had been charged in the first place!
Now that the Public Prosecutor has withdrawn all the seven corruption charges against Jeffrey, is the Public Prosecutor going to withdraw the two outstanding charges of corruption against the former Sabah Chief Minister, Datuk Joseph Pairin Kitingan?
Or is the Public Prosecutor waiting for Joseph Pairin Kitingan to join Barisan Nasional before withdrawing the two outstanding charges of corruption against Joseph Pairin?
I expect a full explanation to be rendered in next month’s Parliament for the entire fiasco over the corruption charges against Jeffrey Kitingan. If there is no basis for these corruption charges, why was Jeffrey Kitingan arrested and charged in the first place?
Arresting and charging people for corruption when there is no basis as to require a withdrawal of the charges without reasons is itself a gross abuse of power, and those responsible for framing and preferring such charges should account for their grave breach trust of their public office in Parliament next month.
Five days after Jeffrey was acquitted of seven serious corruption charges because of the withdrawal without reasons by the Public Prosecutor, Jeffrey also cleared of the corruption charge of failing to declare all his assets when ordered by the Anti-Corruption Agency.
I congratulate Jeffrey for being freed from all corruption charges.
However, the Barisan Nasional State Government must explain whether this is how they are fulfilling their election promises in the first 100 days about the fight against corruption – by withdrawing all corruption charges against leaders who are now in the Sabah Barisan Nasional and denying that there is any corruption problem in Sabah at all?
If the Barisan Nasional Sabah state government has failed so miserably in its first 100 days to fulfil its primary election promise to end corruption in Sabah, it is foolhardy for anhone to expect that it will have any significant results in its other election promises.
The Barisan Nasional promised RM5 million for the nine Sabah Chinese Independent Secondary Schools and RM25 million for the Chinese primary schools in Sabah.
After 100 days, what amount has the Federal Government handed to the nine Chinese Independent Secondary Schools and the Chinese primary schools in Sabah?
I do not expect any answer from the Barisan Nasional -for to give the actual sums of money handed to the Chinese Independent Secondary Schools and the Chinese primary schools in the first 100 days of the Barisan Nasional State Government would only further justify public disenchantment about the string of broken pledges of the Barisan Nasional.
In the Sabah state general elections, the Barisan Nasional promised RM700 million for low-cost housing in Sabah. One hundred days have passed but not a single sen had been sent from the Federal Government to Sabah. The Housing and Local Government Minister, Datuk Dr. Ting Chew Peh, blamed the Sabah State Government for not submitting any application for funds for low-cost housing, while the Sabah Deputy Chief Minister, Datuk Yong Tech Lee blamed Ting Chew Peh for incompetence.
Sabahans and Malaysians are not interested in the quarrel between Chew Peh and Teck Lee – but the fact remains, that in the first 100 days, the Barisan Nasional State Government has produced a blank paper!
An enumeration of other Barisan Nasional Sabah state general elections will show a similar blank paper with regard to its other promises after 100 days.