Sabah PKR candidate lodges police report over campaign slander

By Michael Kaung......Free Malaysia Today.

KOTA KINABALU: The battle for PKR posts in Sabah has taken on a criminal twist with one candidate lodging a police report over campaign strategies adopted by a rival.

Ronnie Klassen who is challenging Christina Liew for the Kota Kinabalu PKR branch chief post has lodged a police report against the latter for allegedly slandering him.

Klassen said that the report was lodged at the Karamunsing police station on Aug 31 and he had also submitted an official report to the party's disciplinary board as Liew had breached PKR's code of ethics.

He told a press conference on Tuesday that Liew, who is also Sabah PKR deputy chairperson, and PKR Kota Kinabalu women's chief Rosalind Bion had sent slanderous and malicious SMSes against him and his team to members of the division.

Klassen is challenging Liew for the post at the party elections on Saturday, Sept 18. Also in the fray are former Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) leader Dr Chong Eng Leong and former Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) Luyang community leader Benny Quek Yi Than.

Chong is vying for the deputy divisional chief post while Quek, the vice president's post. They are challenging Roman Lo and Wong Kin Yin who are the incumbents. They are also pitting Chu Shuk Fun against current Kota Kinabalu division chief Rosalind Bion.

According to Klassen, the SMSes sent by Liew and Bion alleged that he was unscrupulous.

“I can take any kind of SMSes but when she (Liew) gets personal and breaches Section 2.4 of the party's code of ethics, this I cannot tolerate. So my message to Christina is, don't stoop down so low in wanting to attack me.

“This is a very friendly party election and we are not here to slander or attack anyone. If I want to attack anyone, I will attack Umno or Barisan Nasional, not the party members,” he said.

Time for change

He said that his group was challenging the current Kota Kinabalu PKR division leadership because they feel that it is time for a change.

“My purpose is to clean the party up and raise the level of patriotism among the Kota Kinabalu division's 3,340 members.,” he said, adding that most of the members were also in the dark as to what has been happening in the division all this while.

Klassen is challenging Liew to a debate over what she had accomplished for the division in the last 10 years and what she will be doing for them in the next three years.

“As PRK de-facto leader Anwar Ibrahim and other party leaders are coming to Sabah tomorrow (Wednesday), maybe we can invite them to come to the debate,” he said.

Klassen said that he was an independent of any faction within PKR and denied claims that he was aligned to former state PKR chief Ansari Abdullah, a rival to PRK vice president Dr Jeffrey Kitingan.

He described his team as a “new breed of members” who believe in the party's cause and he urged party's leaders to 'stop fighting'.

“My advice to them is to stop all this. If they have their ears to the ground then their would have heard that this is what the people are saying,” he said.