BN Putatan MP Datuk Marcus Mojigoh deserves praise for his courage and preparedness to speak the truth about Umno leadership and the sentiment of Sabahans.
Let’s hope that other conscientious MPs will also speak up.
In an interview with the Malay Mail Online yesterday, he has said that he is seriously considering leaving Barisan Nasional (BN) after serving his third term, saying he has had enough of the racial and religious politicking within the ruling coalition.
Some of his brave and forthright comments include:-
1. some leaders in Umno are borderline racists and extremists
2. the BN leadership has failed to address many concerns of the people and instead allowed those vocal individuals to get away with divisive remarks that have hurt the rest of its component parties
3. “BN has a good power-sharing concept. But more and more we see the racial card being played and it is unsettling. We are a minority here in Sabah, when one race is made to seem supreme, then others will feel marginalised.”
4. although the racists remarks were not made by the coalition’s top leaders, their silence on certain issues, including the recent call to boycott certain Chinese businesses sparked by Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Ismail Sabri Yaakob, made the people doubt their sincerity towards the minority group
5. the state government ‘s banning of DAP lawmaker Teresa Kok from entering Sabah had angered the people who wondered at the silence in the face of provocative remarks from the likes of Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali and Islamist group Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma).
6. the alleged Islamic conversion of a 16-year-old student in SMK Kinarut, in the neighbouring constituency was also a factor that led to his increasing frustration with BN.
7. the heavy-handed manner in which the authorities recently dealt with volunteers in Tuaran and Lahad Datu who were on a signature drive in support of Sabah seceding from Malaysia has upset him
I have made may trips to Sabah since the last general election and I know Marcus Mojigoh has reflected the true sentiment , fears and concerns of Sabahans.
The natural question to ask is why is the BN leadership so detached from the ground sentiment?
There are a few reasons but I like to forward three which are often talked about by the people.
Firstly, although the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib has once said that the era where the government knows best is over, his government has not been sincerely and willing to truly listen to the people.
Secondly, Najib lacks political leadership and chooses to remain silent on issues which he thinks making a correct and necessary stand may not go down well with Umno.
Thirdly, Najib has mistakenly believed that Sabah is a fixed deposit state where BN support will remain strong despite his government’s lack of necessary actions.
On Feb 7, BN Pulai MP Pulai Member of Parliament Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed Has said that the Prime Minister should just say Ismail Sabri is wrong for his boycott Chinese traders’ call instead of trying to clarify what Ismail meant and standing up for him.
We have now another forthright BN MP in Marcus Mojigoh.
Let’s hope that there will be more conscientious BN MPs who will be the true voices of the people.
Teresa Kok