PAS number two Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man (5th from left) and Aminuddin (4th from left) at the launch of the party’s Sabah manifesto.
KOTA KINABALU: PAS said it would champion Sabah’s rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), as the Islamist party’s unveiled a manifesto that makes no mention of shariah or hudud, issues which are championed by party leaders across the South China Sea.
PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said the document, consisting of 10 core points, was formulated with the needs and aspirations of the people of Sabah in mind.
“We have gone through 17 elections and there are still people living in dire poverty in Sabah,” he said after launching the manifesto in Batu Sapi, Sandakan, yesterday.
“A PAS government will ensure that the people are provided with basic infrastructure,” he added.
Tuan Ibrahim said the party would also give emphasis on land ownership to help the people become more secure.
“In Sabah, many people lost their lands because it was given to developers or sold off at exorbitant prices,” he said.
Themed “Sabah Sejahtera” (Prosperous Sabah), the manifesto said Sabah’s rights according to MA63 would be returned to the state by a PAS government which would acknowledge the special status of Sabah and Sarawak as equal partners with the Federation of Malaya.
It said the PAS government would enable 100% of the state’s resources to be utilised for Sabah’s development.
It also promised to give Sabah full autonomy to manage its tax revenues, and repeal the goods and services tax (GST) introduced in 2015.
The party also promised to guarantee the rights of non-Muslims according to the state and federal constitutions.
Other core points included providing job opportunities, rural development, education and security, including fighting back claims from the Philippines over Sabah.
Meanwhile, Sabah PAS commissioner Aminuddin Aling said the full list of the party’s candidates in the state would only be made public by the national leadership.
In the last general election in 2013, PAS contested and lost in two parliamentary constituencies and nine state constituencies in Sabah, including losing deposits in Pitas and Bugaya.
The party’s then state commissioner Hamzah Abdullah later joined Amanah, the splinter party formed by former PAS leaders in 2015.
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