Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) supreme council has today unanimously called for Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Raymond Tan to resign as he no longer belongs any party in the BN ruling coalition.

LDP president VK Liew said the supreme council fully backed deputy president Chin Su Phin who had earlier demanded that Tan, who is also state infrastructure minister, and suspended Sabah Umno Youth chief Japlin Akin to be removed from the state cabinet.

Liew told a press conference at the party’s headquarters after the supreme council meeting that in Japlin’s case, LDP would leave it to the Umno leadership to decide.

raymond tan sapp Chief Minister Musa Aman has kept Tan ( right ) in his cabinet after Sabah Progressive Party (Sapp) led by Yong Teck Lee quit BN last year. According to Musa, Tan will remain deputy chief minister as he is still a BN supporter.

Liew pointed out that the state government cannot ignore the views of the people.

“As the prime minister has reminded us, the era of the government knows all has ended. This applies to all state governments in the country as well,” he said in an apparent reference to Musa’s reluctance to drop Tan.

“It is how the people think that matters because ultimately they are the ones who will decide in the polls whether we continue to sit in government or not,” stressed Liew, who is also deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.

He further noted that the outcome of the five by-elections since last year’s general elections, of which BN lost four, is a significant tell-tale sign that the ruling coalition needs to pay serious attention to views of the people.

“However, in this case, it isn’t polls results or public opinion that counts. It is about right and wrong,” he said, adding that Tan should relinquish his position to adhere to the most fundamental ethical standards of BN.

“Tan has not done the most honourable thing like his other ex-colleagues (other Sapp elected representatives) to resign from government positions. By procrastinating, he (Tan) has begun to cause the public to lose confidence in the government,” he added.

No agenda to want ‘partyless’ Tan out

Liew stressed that his party had no agenda in wanting ‘partyless’ Tan out.

“`I do not wish to ask for anymore that what we deserve but neither do I want to ask for anything less,” he said in stressing that LDP, the oldest Sabah BN component party, will continue to voice out on the matter.

LDP will also bring the issue up with the BN leadership, he said.

On whether LDP would accept Tan into the party, Liew said: “We will cross that bridge when we come to it.”

Tan had spoken of forming a new party that will apply to join BN but to date the party has yet to be named or registered.

Many political observers in the state had deemed such talks as an attempt by Tan to buy more time to maintain his increasingly untenable position in the state cabinet.