Sabah Progressive Party

The Sabah Progressive Party ("Parti Maju Sabah") is a political party based in Sabah, east Malaysia. It was registered on 21 January 1994 by dissidents led by former Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Yong Teck Lee from Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS). It was one of the 14 component parties in the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition that rules Malaysia. On 17th of September, SAPP has officially pulled out of Barisan National to become an independent party. [http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/9/17/nation/20080917164455&sec=nation]

Withdrawal from Barisan Nasional

The SAPP won three parliamentary seats in the general election held on March 8 2008. After the 2008 election, there were calls by many Sabahan political parties for more autonomy from the Malaysian federal government.

SAPP President Yong Teck Lee announced on June 18 2008 that the party would file a no-confidence motion in the Dewan Rakyat on June 23 against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, calling on him to step down. The party, criticizing what it described as insensitivity on the part of the government towards issues in Sabah, said that it was taking advantage of a unique "window of opportunity" for the sake of Sabah interests, including autonomy, return of Labuan and 20% of oil revenues.cite news | title = SAPP to file no-confidence motion against PM, urges him to step down | date = 2008-06-18 | publisher = "New Straits Times" | url = http://www.nst.com.my/Wednesday/Frontpage/20080618142240/Article/index_html | work = New Straits Times | pages = | accessdate = 2008-06-18]

On June 20, 2008 SAPP won the backing of members, including its top leaders to press ahead with its no-confidence vote against embattled Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. The two current SAPP MPs will support any vote of no-confidence against the prime minister in parliament or one of them will move the motion.cite news | title = Rebel party wins support in no-confidence against Malaysian PM | date = 2008-06-20 | publisher = "AFP" | url = http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hC1luesU7dB96SSXc-SW3Dh9cLUA | work = AFP | pages = | accessdate = 2008-06-20]

The majority of the Sabah population are generally content with the SAPP no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who has been accused a number of wrongdoings including corruption and abuse of power. In retaliation for calling for a vote of no-confidence against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the Barisan Nasional supreme council will issue a show-cause letter to Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP). A 30-day period was to give SAPP a chance to reply and defend itself before Barisan Nasional takes any action against them.cite news | title = SAPP gets show-cause letter| date = 2008-06-26 | publisher = "TheStar" | url = http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/6/27/nation/21676836&sec=nation | work = TheStar | pages = | accessdate = 2008-06-26]

On July 11, 2008 the two SAPP MPs said they would support Pakatan Rakyat’s motion of no confidence against the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Earlier that week Sabah Progressive Party president Datuk Yong Teck Lee had said that this week that the party was putting on hold its intention to move the no-confidence motion on grounds of inflammatory and threatening statements from some government leaders. cite news | title = SAPP to support no-confidence motion| date = 2008-07-11 | publisher = "TheStar" | url = http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/7/11/nation/20080711173652&sec=nation | work = TheStar| accessdate = 2008-07-11]

On September 17, 2008, the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) announced it would quit the 14-party Barisan Nasional coalition, three months after it proposed a no-confidence vote against Abdullah, in the first defection in the coalition since March elections. SAPP, which accounts for only two of Barisan's 140 MPs, has little clout but there are concerns this could spark an exodus from other coalition members to the opposition, led by Anwar Ibrahim. [cite news | title = Malaysia party quits coalition; PM cedes key post| date = 2008-09-17 | publisher = Yahoo! News| url = http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080917/wl_nm/malaysia_politics_dc_7 | work = Reuters| accessdate = 2008-09-17] Nevertheless, the decision came at a price as the party's deputy president, one of its vice-president, [cite news | title = SAPP pulls out of Barisan| date = 2008-09-17 | publisher = The Star| url = http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/9/17/nation/20080917164455&sec=nation| work = The Star| accessdate = 2008-09-17] and its youth chief (who chose to remain within the BN fold) all opposed to the move, withdrew from the party. [cite news | title = Cracks widening in SAPP| date = 2008-09-20 | publisher = The Star| url = http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/9/20/nation/20080920193132&sec=nation| work = The Star| accessdate = 2008-09-20] Some 2000 members of the party also similarly dissented the move and left the party showing support for these dissident leaders. [cite news | title = 2,000 SAPP Members Quit Party| date = 2008-09-20 | publisher = Sinchew Jit Poh| url = http://www.mysinchew.com/node/16491| work = mysinchew| accessdate = 2008-09-20]

References

ee also

* Parliament of Malaysia
* Barisan Nasional

External links

* [http://www.sapp.org.my/ Official web site]