Sabah BN chief Musa Aman and the coalition’s by-election candidate Linda Tsen have snubbed debate challenges issued by candidates from SAPP and PKR.

NONE According to the Borneo Post today, Musa ( right in pic, with Tsen ) said that it was pointless to debate Yong on Sabah’s autonomy because the latter did not raise the issue when he was chief minister between 1996 and 1998.

“During his tenure he spent most of his time glorifying himself. Not at any time did he speak on Sabah’s autonomy nor Sabah rights.

“Yong was only good at shouting ‘Sabah boleh’ and ‘SAPP Boleh’. He flooded the state with his self-righteous billboards. What benefit it brought to the people, I don’t know.

“But that was his window of opportunity (to resolve issues surrounding Sabah’s autonomy) when he was at the helm of the government - however Yong failed miserably as he was busy fighting for his own self-gains,” he said.

Yong’s a ‘cowboy’

Dismissing Yong’s challenge as a mere attempt to project his “cowboy image”, Musa said that the latter should instead tell the people about his deeds, or rather misdeeds, as chief minister.

NONE Musa said that the former chief minister should also explain to the the public about the RM114 million fiasco resulting from the disastrous share swap deal involving Warisan Harta Sabah Sdn Bhd, which was chaired by Yong at the time.

Unlike Yong ( left ), Musa said he would rather focus on performing his duties rather than boasting about his achievements, which he was confident the public already knew.

“Roads are being made; electricity and water are being supplied... Perhaps not as fast as some people expect, but then again, these are being done, to say the least.

“Our state coffers and our reserves have swelled up many folds. We have made more allocations (over the years) to the Chinese schools and (non-Muslim) religious bodies. Our contributions speak for themselves,” he said.

Tsen just wants to meet voters

Yong had challenged Musa to an open debate on Sabah’s autonomy this Sunday at the Hakka Association Hall, Sandakan.

He argued that the debate was necessary as the BN state government has not done enough to ensure the that the federal government adheres to the Malaysia Agreement on Sabah’s autonomy.

Meanwhile, Tsen told reporters this morning that she refused PKR candidate Ansari Abdullah’s debate dare because she would rather use the time to meet voters.

When told of this, Ansari said: “We respect her decision. We will let the people decide on our credibility.”

Ansari had challenged both Yong and Tsen to debate on Sabah’s autonomy. Yong had ignored Ansari altogether and instead set his sights on Musa.