No expulsion for SAPP
BN Supreme Council believes Yong’s statement is not Party’s stand, says Abdullah
BN Supreme Council believes Yong’s statement is not Party’s stand, says Abdullah
KUALA LUMPUR:
The Barisan Nasional (BN) Supreme Council has decided not to expel the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) as it believes the statement by its President, Datuk Yong Teck Lee, yesterday was not the stand of the Party, said Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. “As far as I know, it (Yong’s statement) is not the stand of the Party. The statement came from Yong Teck Lee personally. That’s why we are not taking action against the party,” said the Prime Minister, who is also the BN chairman, at a press conference after an emergency meeting of the BN Supreme Council here yesterday. In Kota Kinabalu on Wednesday, Yong, who is also a former Sabah Chief Minister, said the Party had lost confidence in the Prime Minister and would support a motion on a vote of ‘no confidence’ against Abdullah at the Dewan Rakyat sitting beginning Monday. Abdullah had chaired the BN Supreme Council emergency meeting which lasted more than three hours at Menara Datuk Onn to discuss Yong’s statement. Responding to a question, Abdullah said it was up to SAPP to take whatever action against Yong for his statement. “Whatever decision the Party wants to make concerning the action of its President is up to the Party,” he said. When asked whether the BN would take action against two SAPP MPs, Abdullah said action would only be taken if they make similar statements in the Dewan Rakyat. In his statement, Yong said two SAPP MPs Datuk Eric Enchin Majimbun (Sepanggar) and Datuk Dr Chua Soon Bui (Tawau) would support the motion of no confidence. “They have not yet made any statements in the Dewan Rakyat. If they had done so, then we can take action because in the House, we have party discipline and the (Government) whip. “We will of course take action if they go against party discipline,” he said, adding that BN had once taken action against a MP from MIC, as well as two BN Assembly members in Penang. To a question, Abdullah stressed that BN was not afraid to take action but wanted to make sure that any decisions made were the right ones. “This is not the question of being afraid or not. The issue is, we need to make the correct decision. We cannot make a hasty decision against a party which have not yet made any decision on the matter. “Otherwise, we will be seen as having taken an action without knowing whether the matter was really a decision made by the Party or only made by its leader. That is important for us to consider. “We have to be correct in wanting to take any kind of action against anybody or against institution or against any component party,” he said. Asked whether a show cause letter would be sent to the Party, Abdullah said, “We have not asked them to show cause because they have not done anything wrong at the moment.” He said yesterday’s meeting was important as it discussed an issue involving the head of a BN component party. He said that BN component parties rejected the statement made by Yong. “It was clear that no one supported him. None of them say the statement (by Yong) is acceptable. All of them expressed their shock and regret over the statement, which is against the BN’s principles,” he said. Abdullah also said the meeting agreed not to issue any warning or advice to component parties or their leaders as they already knew their duties and responsibilities towards the BN and the people.
