My party will be registered soon — Lajim

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BEAUFORT: Opposition leader Datuk Lajim Ukin is optimistic his new party would be registered in a week or two.

Speaking at his first gathering to explain his decison to ditch PKR for a local party, the Klias assemblyman said he was confident the multi-racial party would get support once registered.

Lajim said he however was not allowed to reveal his party’s name until it gets a registration certificate from the Registrar of Societies.

“Just be patient a little bit more. Once registered we will have our own political party,  to work with other parties that seek to unseat the ruling Barisan Nasional,” Lajim told the about 500 people at Kampung Koundu Kebatu near here on Saturday night.

Explaining his reason for leaving PKR, Lajim said for the past three years he had been trying to push for the party to respect Sabah autonomy but not to his satisfaction.

“Yes we managed to get PKR to put in its constitution a clause to respect Sabah and Sarawak rights according to Malaysia Agreement 1963, but that was it. It stopped there. Some in the party said the party can only give autonomy after it forms the government to which I said Sabah must have political autonomy right now. Let us Sabahans decide our matters. If this is not respected, I could not carry on with PKR,” he explained.

He also alleged that interference from the centre always happened with the last attempt to disrupt the already actively functioning PKR Sabah Women wing.

Saying that his party would want to work with Pakatan Harapan, Lajim also hinted at a bigger coalition of local parties to be the dominant players in Sabah and not Malaya-based parties.

Meanwhile, in his speech, former Sabah PKR secretary Datuk Maijol Mahap told the crowd that he has received very positive responses from Kota Marudu, many declaring overwhelming support for his decision to form a local party together with Lajim.

“There were many good comments in the Facebook and WhatsApp chatgroups that supported my decision and this augurs well for Kota Marudu and all of us,” he said, adding that the next gathering or ‘jelajah’ will be in his area.