Sabah Ph Youth Slams Ppbm Vp For Seeking Govt Contracts For Party Chieftains

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Sabah PH Youth secretary Razeef Rakimin says he believes the statement did not represent the sentiments of PPBM as a party.KOTA KINABALU: Sabah PH youth described PPBM vice-president Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman’s suggestion that government projects be given to help PPBM’s machinery as “offensive”, saying it should not be uttered by a top leader of a national party
Speaking to FMT here today, Sabah PH Youth secretary Razeef Rakimin said he believed the statement did not represent the sentiments of PPBM as a party
“However, the speech still affects Pakatan Harapan as a whole. So, we in Sabah PH Youth rebuke the PPBM vice-president for demanding that his party’s division chiefs should be given government projects,” he said
Razeef said he supported the call made by DAP Youth Chief Howard Lee for PH to curb all forms of political patronage as this could have a negative impact on the integrity of the parties involved and also the coalition as a whole
He also slammed Rashid for saying that the use of government machinery was crucial to guarantee victory and that PPBM must win elections by hook or by crook
“This is obviously against the PH principle and our own,” he said
Razeef said he found it ironic especially because one of the reasons PH fought Umno was because Umno had used government funds for its party interests and for its leaders at the division level
Unfortunately, he said, after Umno had been defeated, a top leader from within the PH coalition was now proposing to do the same thing Umno had done
Even worse, he said, Rashid did not even have the decency to be subtle about it and instead made the demand so publicly
“We also found it frustrating that he branded those who disagreed with his demand as ‘stupid’. I view this statement as rude and ignorant even if it came from a vice-president of PPBM,” he said
He urged PPBM to take action against Rashid for going against the principles and values of PH
The people, he said, expected leaders of integrity and PH should not repeat what had happened during the Barisan Nasional era
Rashid, the former Election Commission chairman, drew flak from some party leaders for his call to give party chieftains government contracts, although it was greeted with applause from delegates attending the PPBM general assembly
Among other things, Rashid said it would be stupid not to demand government favours for the ruling political party, saying elections must be won “by hook or by crook”
On another note, Razeef said personally, he was against any plan to bring PPBM into Sabah as the party has already made a pact with Warisan on the matter
“However, there is nothing stopping them from coming. In fact, I know there are groups who are already recruiting members for the party here,” he said. - FMT

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