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KOTA KINABALU: Upko President Wilfred Madius Tangau has denied allegations of being a political “frog”, saying his party left the BN after the 14 general elections (GE14) to form an alliance with Warisan, PKR and DAP because that was what the voters wanted.
Tangau, who is vying for Kiulu’s seat, said his party made the decision as it was clear from the GE14 results that people wanted change.
How can I be a frog? There was nothing he could jump out of, there was no government. All we (Upko) did was look at the people and all the parties that campaigned at the time to defeat the BN. We could see that everyone did well.
“So why don’t we go with the people? I am not a traitor to anyone. If you say I am a traitor to the people, I actually agreed with the people, ”he said last night while campaigning for Warisan Plus here.
On May 10, 2018, the day after GE14, Tangau led Upko leaders to meet with Warisan President Shafie Apdal and pledge their support for Warisan. This took place just hours before she announced her party’s departure from BN, prompting criticism from the public who labeled her party “frogs.”
Tangau said Upko had decided to resign from BN at the time to ensure the party’s fight for the Kadazan Dusun Murut (KDM) community would continue.
He added that BN had already fallen nationally and technically, it had also lost to opposition at the state level because they only secured 29 of the 60 state assembly seats at the time.
“STAR got two seats, Warisan 21, DAP six seats and PKR two seats, which equates to 31 seats. They also obtained 60% of the popular vote.
“That means people wanted a change. They wanted a new government and a new prime minister.
“So BN lost the elections not because of Madius Tangau. I worked really hard and won. We (Upko) disputed six seats and won five, ”he said.
Tangau noted that, although Upko switched his allegiance to another political coalition, he had never switched to another party.
“I remain a member and president of Upko. So I’m here and I want to say that Tangau is not a frog, ”he said.
On May 9, 2018, Warisan-DAP-PKR were tied at 29 seats each with BN. That made STAR, led by its chairman Jeffrey Kitingan, the kingmakers by virtue of occupying the two remaining seats.
The next day, Jeffrey, who won the Tambunan seat and his party colleague Robert Tawik, who won the Bingkor seat, gave their support to the BN, which was then led by former Chief Minister Musa Aman.
Later that day, Musa was sworn in as chief minister, but a series of defections involving BN assembly members from Umno and Upko tipped majority support for Shafie.
On May 12, the governor of Sabah, Juhar Mahiruddin, swore in Shafie as chief minister, sparking a constitutional crisis. The case of Musa claiming that he is the “legitimate chief minister” after GE14 has since gone to the Federal Court for a hearing.
