Sunday, April 20, 2008

Anwar ‘not on fishing trip’ to East Malaysia - The Star

KOTA KINABALU: April 20, 2008 by Muguntan Vanar

Parti Keadilan Rakyat de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will be in Sabah and Sarawak from Wednesday onwards but party officials say he is not on a “fishing” trip to woo Barisan Nasional MPs.

PKR vice president Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan said Anwar was making his first visit to Sabah and Sarawak after the March 8 general election. He, however, does not anticipate any crossover of MPs taking place.

“The visit is not a fishing trip but if there are any fishes around we welcome them,” he told reporters when asked if Anwar’s visit had anything to do with PKR’s much-talked about crossing over of Barisan MPs.

“As far as we are concerned, the winds are still blowing and this thing is likely to happen after his (Anwar) visit,” said Dr Jeffrey, who is PKR’s steering committee chairman for Sabah and Sarawak.

He, however, declined to elaborate on this, saying he had to respect the wishes of the Barisan leaders who had met him.

“I will tell you Sabah is likely to be the first to move,” he said, adding that the MPs were hoping to see a federal government that has a new approach towards Sabah, on issues ranging from illegal immigrants to oil royalty.

Dr Jeffrey said that during the visit, Anwar would address a gathering on Wednesday night at the Hongkod Koissan cultural centre.

"He will also endorse PKR’s commitment towards the Tambunan Declaration, which calls for greater state rights, among others," he added.

Anwar is scheduled to be in Kuching on Thursday

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