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(Daily Express) - The Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) hopes new Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will be different from his predecessor, who it claims left behind a string of broken promises to Sabahans.
Its President Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee, whose party pulled out of the Barisan Nasional coalition and tried to move a motion of no-confidence against Abdullah last year, said: "Abdullah's repeated broken promises to solve the illegal immigrant issue and cancel the gas pipeline from Bintulu in Sarawak are costly legacies that Malaysians in Sabah would have to bear for a long time." He said Malaysians would also remember his administration for failing to make any decision on the use of English to teach Maths and Science and lack of commitment to solve the Queen Elizabeth Hospital debacle. "Word is already coming out from people in the medical profession that QEH patients are dying unnecessarily," he alleged in his statement. Now that the country has a new Prime Minster, the people also expect a district hospital in Nabawan promised by Najib, he added. Yong also called on the new administration to expedite the Borneonisation of the federal civil service in the Borneo states as intended in 1963 upon the formation of Malaysia. He said SAPP, on its part, will continue to press for the fulfilment of the legitimate interests of Malaysians in Sabah under the party's "8 Points Declaration". "For instance, socio-economic imbalances such as high costs of living, highest poverty rate, low quality education and health care and social problems caused by illegal immigrants must remain high in the national agenda. "Discriminatory policies as recent as the unfair subsidy on Super Tempatan 15 per cent rice, the non-availability of the auto-scrapping scheme and the expiry of the fuel rebate must be removed and unfair polices such as the Cabotage policy and Felda profit-oriented policy must be reviewed without delay." SAPP, he said, will also keep on the agenda the return of Labuan to Sabah and an equitable sharing of 20 per cent petroleum and gas resources by oil producing states, namely, Sabah, Sarawak and Terengganu. "With the swearing in of the new Prime Minister, we expect to hear the chorus of support from BN leaders hailing the appointment of Najib. "These are the same BN leaders who had obligingly pledged unconditional support to Abdulah as Prime Minister in June last year when SAPP announced our loss of confidence in him. "SAPP's only hope for our Sabahan leaders in the BN Government is that they will use this new era of the Najib premiership for Sabah's legitimate interests," he added.
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