SAPP congress to decide on political alignment

Kota Kinabalu: The future direction of the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP), including its political alignment at state and national levels, will be debated at the party’s delegates’ congress on Nov 1, said SAPP Information Chief Chin Vui Kai.<br><br>

“Of particular interest is whether and how SAPP will align with other parties or political blocs in Sabah ahead of the coming parliamentary elections.<br><br>

“Although SAPP has no elected representatives in the Sabah State Assembly or Parliament, the party has always played a key role in shaping the political landscape,” Chin said in a statement on Wednesday.<br><br>

He said SAPP’s withdrawal from the then-ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) in 2008, under the slogan “Window of Opportunity for MA63”, had influenced the political direction seen today.<br><br>

“Most other political parties now championing MA63 only jumped on the MA63 bandwagon after BN fell in 2018,” he said.<br><br>

Chin said members were considering whether SAPP should align with a national political bloc or maintain its position of aligning only with Sabah-based parties.<br><br>

He explained that the party’s Supreme Council had decided at its last meeting to leave the decision on SAPP’s future political direction to the delegates.<br><br>

Chin said 316 delegates would attend the one-day congress in Kota Kinabalu on Nov 1 to elect the party’s ninth Supreme Council, which serves a four-year term.<br><br>

“A new Supreme Council line-up will be unveiled at the congress, as this is an election year. Based on nominations from party branches, almost 50 per cent of the incoming Supreme Council members are young people who graduated from the party’s youth camps.<br><br>

“SAPP has been organising youth camps for the past 30 years. These young leaders, who fully understand SAPP’s political culture, Sabah’s political history and the meaning of MA63, will form the core of the party’s future,” Chin said.<br><br>