Labuan MP quits Umno for Warisan
Julia Chan,Malay Mail 2 hours 4 minutes ago
KOTA KINABALU, Oct 11 — Labuan MP Datuk Rozman Isli announced his intention to join Parti Warisan Sabah today and confirmed his departure from Umno.
The two-term federal lawmaker cited the need to foster better ties between the Federal Territory and the state government as among reasons for his move.
“Now is the opportunity for Labuan to change some of its administrative system where it is far from the capital and its position within Borneo has little effect. Labuan needs to be more empowered and needs to work with its closest neighbour,” he said in a statement tdday.
Rozman said his joining the Sabah-based party was timely and in line with the people’s desire, based on the outcome of the general election.
“Labuan’s unique location and economic standing needs me to make this decision. I need to fulfill the people’s aspirations now, especially with the falling of the oil and gas industry which has affected us.
“Labuan is a close-knit community and they need me to ensure that their economic future can rise again. I want to make sure my second term is productive and beneficial to the people,” he said, adding that the new platform will let him bring in more investors by working with new partners.
He said that although he agreed in principal that Labuan was a Federal Territory, it should be given more power and flexibility to carry out its own plans and make decisions to reach its potential.
“At the moment, the decision making process takes too long and sometimes the voice of the people goes unheard, causing great losses to Labuan which needs large scale investments. This is why I say Labuan needs structural change.
“The Sabah government also wantd Labuan to prosper so it can provide jobs for Sabahans and business opportunities for the good of the region. Now, I would also like to ask for a state assembly seat for Labuan like they once had before,” he said.
Rozman said another reason he was joining Warisan was to be part of the fight alongside Sabah and Sarawak for the return of the rights accorded to the two States in the Malaysia Agreement 1963.
“The prime minister has stated his commitment in realising this and I’m pleased that both the federal and state governments have said they will give Labuan more priority,” he said.
Rozman did not mention any issues he may have had with Umno in his statement, saying only that the country’s political system was still in its infancy, and the current movement in alliances was part of its process in finding the right formula.
“However, there is some chance that we are headed towards a two party system which is adapted by many developed nations. The current changing of alliances and movement is part of this process.
“In the end, the two parties in the system will not have any extreme differences because they have the same DNA and Malaysians need not be afraid of too much change,” he said.
Rozman is the sixth federal lawmaker to resign from Umno since the general election, joining others such as Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed and fellow Sabahan Datuk Seri Anifah Aman.
Sabah Chief Minister and Warisan president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal welcomed Rozman’s move, saying that it was the right step towards better working ties with the FT.
“We have direct relations to Labuan so it’s right that we work together.
“Labuan has several state industries – Sabah Gas and Sabah Energy... so we have to work to up their capacity. We cannot leave them behind in our effort to industrialise Sabah, and the Labuan MP can help us in this effort,” he said.
