PRESS STATEMENT

Mahathir Should Rectify Umno/Malayan Hegemony - Dr. Jeffrey

Kota Kinabalu: Ex-premier Mahathir should take the opportunity to redeem some of his past mistakes by rectifying the Umno hegemony over the other races and the Umno/Malayan hegemony over Sabah and Sarawak instead of insincere statements to hoodwink the people to continue the Umno stranglehold on the country said Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan, STAR Sabah Chief, commenting on the ex-premiers statement to BN on adjustments in power-sharing. In private, the other BN leaders will acknowledge that there is no real power-sharing in BN nowadays and everything is decided by Umno and imposed on the other BN components. This can be clearly seen when the PM comes out of Umno Supreme Council meetings and announcing major government policies decided at the Umno Supreme Council meeting without even having to refer to the other BN parties. It is a stark reality that the other BN components are powerless and have no say whatsoever. They are there only for window dressing to fill up positions and to give a picture of credibility for the Umno regime. If the situation is bad and reaching breaking-point for the BN components and other races in the Peninsula, it is worse in the case of the Borneo States particularly Sabah. Whatever the pro-Umno, pro-federal government and other detractors may say, the reality is that Sabah is treated as a colony by Umno/Malaya masquerading as the federal government of Malaysia and aided by Sabah Umno/BN leaders. The original intention of forming the federation of Malaysia was to be a political association between Malaya, Singapore and the 3 Borneo territories of North Borneo (now Sabah), Sarawak and Brunei. Fortunately for Brunei, they pulled out at the last minute. After 50 years, it is no longer a political association, more a racial, religious hegemony by Umno/Malaya. The founding fathers of Malaysia from Sabah and Sarawak never intended for Sabah and Sarawak to be the 12thh and 13th States in Malaysia, equal to the likes of Perlis, Malacca or Selangor. After having passed its 50 years mark, Malaysia today is not the federation of Malaysia that is supposed to be. Although Malaysians share its uniqueness in diversity in race, religion and culture, the political reality is essentially Umno/Malay hegemony in the Peninsula and Umno/Malaya hegemony over Sabah and Sarawak. There is no real power-sharing, just domination, domination and more domination by Umno. ../2-

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The domination has gone to the extent of twisting the facts of history and the formation of Malaysia, even the age and independence of Malaysia. Another form of domination is the use of the government agencies and security apparatus for their political purposes inching closer and closer to making Malaysia a police state. Much of this domination happened during the time of Mahathir and the father of the present Prime Minister. It has gotten worse during the tenure of the present Prime Minister despite his hollow and meaningless slogan 1-Malaysia which has been rendered 1-Melayu as evidenced at the recent Umno general assembly. It is only appropriate for Mahathir to initiate the ending of this Umno/Malaya hegemony and for the present Prime Minister to implement it. Only then will true peace and harmony prevail in the Peninsula and equal partnership prevail between Malaya and the Borneo States of Sabah and Sarawak. Sabahans and Sarawakians share little in common with their cousins in the Peninsula other than being Malaysians due to the merger to form Malaysia in 1963. If the hegemony cannot be ended, it may be better for the Malayan/Malaysian government to consider Sabah and Sarawaks departure as what has been expounded time and again and openly by narrow-minded Umno and other Malay leaders.

Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan Chairman STAR Sabah 08 January 2014

Barisan needs to tweak power-sharing for better outcome in next polls, says Dr Mahathir
J ANUARY 06, 2014

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (pic) today suggested that some adjustments could be made to the Barisan Nasional (BN) power-sharing formula to woo Malaysians who deserted the ruling coalition in GE13. But he warned that there should not be any threat or one race trying to hold another to ransom. His comments are the first since the general election in which he does not blame the Chinese for BN's poor showing and concedes that the Malays cannot rule and prosper on their own.

I think the parties in the BN should be reminded that this is a multi-racial country and it can only remain peaceful and prosperous if they uphold this ideal of sharing between the races. The Malays must remember that they cannot rule and prosper in this country on their own. They need the dynamism and business skills of the Chinese. They need also the professional skills of the Indians, the country's longest serving prime minister wrote in a post today in his popular Chedet blog. Dr Mahathir said the Chinese and Indians must also realise that they needed Malay support if they wished to form the government but Malay support will not be forthcoming if the Chinese and Indians are not prepared to share fairly political power and economic wealth. In multi-racial Malaysia, a strong government is a necessity. We cannot afford a minority government. Having tried to stop sharing in the 2013 election, those who deserted the BN should come back. They should return to the status quo ante, Dr Mahathir wrote. He said that unlike other plural societies, Malaysia is truly a multi-racial country as Malaysians retained their identification with their countries of origin. Multi-racial countries are almost never peaceful. More so if the races follow different religions, speak different languages and adhere to different cultures as in Malaysia. But contrary to general expectations, Malaysia is relatively peaceful and stable. It is accordingly more prosperous than can be expected of countries which gained independence recently, he noted. He said the reason for this peace, is the willingness of the people to share political power and economic wealth. Unfortunately, there are in this country people who wish to end this sharing concept. They see a possibility of dominating not just economic wealth but political power as well. "They dangled this bait before the Chinese in the 2013 elections. And this resulted in wholesale desertion of Chinese voters from the BN coalition, to basically the DAP, he said. Dr Mahathir said the majority of Malays adhered to the sharing concept espoused by the BN. And so, despite this desertion, the BN won but with a much thinner majority. He said that among the countries which gained independence after the war, Malaysia is the most peaceful, stable and prosperous. Only the insane can think that Malaysia should have the kind of upheavals, demonstrations and the like that we see in the countries of the Middle East and elsewhere. Maybe we are not perfect but that is no reason why we should discard something that had largely delivered on its promise, he said. Dr Mahathir said political parties did not like to lose. But in Malaysia when the government party lost, it had peacefully surrendered power. That this has not been seen at national level is the peoples will. But at state level it has given up power in six states. I believe it will give up power at national level if the people so wish, he said, adding "the will of the people must be expressed through elections, not through demonstrations or other means. - January 6, 2014.