Opposition denial does not hold water – PBS

(The Borneo Post) - Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) has rejected the opposition denial of their link to the Suara Pakatan Rakyat and urged the police to investigate the seditious blog.

PBS secretary general Datuk Henrynus Amin, in welcoming the statement by the Chief Minister who joined the chorus of voices against the opposition blogger who is critical of the Sumazau dance, said he had no doubt about the close link between Suara Pakatan Rakyat and the opposition front – PKR, DAP and PAS – which collectively styled themselves as Pakatan Rakyat.

He said as the name implies, Suara Pakatan Rakyat is an opposition propaganda, a voice for Pakatan Rakyat, whose contents are fiercely anti-BN and their political orientation closely identical to or rather seemed to represent the opposition agenda.

“The opposition denial of any link with Suara Pakatan Rakyat does not hold water as there is no secret about the intention, affiliation and political allegiance of the blogger,” he said.

Henrynus also totally rejected insinuation that Umno is behind the blog.

He said the Suara Pakatan Rakyat blog had existed for a long time and its contents highly critical of Umno and the BN.

“How do you reconcile the fact that the administration of the blog is firmly in the hands of those highly critical of Umno and the BN?”

He said the fact of the matter is that the opposition tried to discredit the Prime Minister by associating him with the Sumazau which they erroneously branded as a Pagan religious ritual of the Kadazandusun and Murut community.

The opposition, as a matter of strategy, was trying to emulate the success of the BN propaganda associating Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah with the Christian cross displayed on a Kadazandusun headgear he wore during a political function in the 1990 general election, said Henrynus.

“So this was a case of political strategy gone awfully wrong for which they will have to bear the consequences of their foolishness.”

The blogger thinks naively the Kadazandusun and Murut community are passive insignificant people whom they can conveniently use as a scapegoat and the perfect political punching bag to pursue their selfish political goals.

“The opposition may be forgiven for their dislike or at best ignorance of the indigenous culture of Sabah, but for them to think they can gain political mileage by demonizing the culture of the Kadazandusun and Murut community, they are yet to find out in the coming general election the price they have to pay for their disrespect.”

“Contrary to their expectation, by demonizing the Sumazau dance, the people of Sabah, the Kadazandusun and Murut community in particular, is even more united in the defence of their cultural heritage.

“The Kadazandusun and Murut community are proud of their cultural heritage, and history has shown as exemplified by the famous Kampung Karanaan gathering in 1982 in response to Berjaya’s disrespect of the Kaamatan Festival, that they as a community will fight anyone, and including the opposition front, who may be tempted to humiliate them as a community.”

He said PBS decision as a Kadazandusun and Murut based multiracial political party to make a police report was therefore timely and truly justified.

“PBS fully agrees with the Chief Minister of Sabah, ‘For those who have no respect for our cultural values are not welcome here in Sabah.’

“Sabahans, the Kadazandusun and Murut community in particular, should not support or rather should not have anything to do with those who have no respect for the people of Sabah and their culture,” added Henrynus.