Sabah PKR chief wants Sabah to ban Ibrahim Ali

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah PKR has called for the state government to ban Malay right-wing group Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali from entering the state.

Making this call was Sabah PKR chief Christina Liew who said it was necessary to ban Ibrahim from entering Sabah in order to safeguard the state and its people from the threat of being radicalised by radical individuals or groups.

She said this in response to Ibrahim’s statement that minorities in Sabah should stop making “nonsensical” demands and just be thankful that they are recognised as Malaysians.

Ibrahim was reported by online news portal Malaysian Insight for telling minorities in Sabah should not cross the line to the point of denying the rights of indigenous people in the state.

He was referring to the Chinese community’s demand for the recognition of the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC). He was reported to have said this while speaking at the Perkasa special annual conference held in Tuaran over the weekend.

“In the context of Sabah, I want to remind the minorities who are Malaysian that we accept them as Malaysians. But, never step on the heads of the indigenous people.

“Now, they are making many nonsensical demands. Demands that are against the constitution and national policies, such as the recognition of the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC),” he was reported to have said.

Liew, who is also the chairman of Sabah Pakatan Harapan, however rubbished Ibrahim’s statement.

“Does he even know what he was talking about? Does he even know what UEC is in the first place? Does he even know the significance of UEC today with the emergence of China as an economic power in the world?

“How did he form such a ridiculous view that the demand for recognition of the long-overdue UEC is denying the rights of indigenous people in Sabah, or stepping on their heads? What’s wrong with him?”

“And who does he think he is to try to trample upon the Chinese community of Sabah by viciously pitting them against the indigenous people of Sabah? What’s his real motive or was he just talking without thinking simply because he had to say something in order to seek attention?” she queried.

Liew, who is Api-Api assemblywoman, also found Ibrahim’s disclaimer – that his statement against the Chinese community should not be taken as being racist – to be laughable.

She said Ibrahim, the former MP of Pasir Mas, should first defend the orang asli of his home state Kelantan from the loggers who encroached into their villages in the forest reserve if he was really so serious and committed about defending the rights of the indigenous people as what he claimed.

“There is no place in Sabah for a radical person who preaches racism and political fanaticism in the name of fighting and defending the rights of the Malays.

“To allow Ibrahim and Perkasa to come into Sabah to conduct their activities may also send out the wrong message that the state government is incapable of defending the rights of the indigenous people of Sabah,” she said.

Liew’s call to ban someone from entering the state comes as a surprise as for long the opposition has been hitting out at Sabah and Sarawak state governments for barring several opposition leaders and activists from Peninsular Malaysia from entering the two states.

Sabah’s neighbour Sarawak has already imposed a ban on Ibrahim.