Sabah's opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat Sabah says its far from throwing in the towel and will continue to pursue the party's ideals although it failed to win a single seat in the last general election.

Its deputy leader Kota Kinabalu-based lawyer Christina Liew said that she had a lot of faith in PKR as it was a truly multiracial party that realised that political gains for the rakyat were not overnight achievements.

"As you can see I am still here. Far from being gone from the scene, we still slog on despite all the disappointments and the odds. We hope the voters will eventually appreciate better what we are trying to do," said Liew in an interview with malaysiakini today

"I personally believe in multiracialism and although I realise it is an uphill battle for us, we will nevertheless carry on until we succeed."

Liew pointed out that PKR representatives would no longer be competing with Barisan Nasional members of parliament and state assemblymen who 'are out in the streets daily looking at drains and garbage collection and then appear in the local newspapers the next day'.

"We don't have to do that anymore and compete with them," said Liew. "We will now focus on the government's policies and on whether they are fair, efficient and effective."

She said that if she had been voted into the state legislative assembly, she would have spoken up on a number of laws being amended - including one at the current sitting of the assembly - to make the state attorney-general represent all statutory bodies in court on the pretext that this would save costs.

"Why can't the statutory bodies use lawyers from the private sector?" she said. "Having the AG represent them will definitely slow things down."

No opposition concern

Liew had also recently proposed that the Sabah government stop appointing politicians and instead engage professionals with the right qualifications to sit on the boards of statutory bodies and state government-linked companies (GLCs) in line with federal government policy.

She said most state GLCs were losing money because of poor management and the state government had already announced that those which continued to lose money would be closed down.

It was therefore important that the state government ensure its GLCs were properly run and that only professionals with the right qualifications be appointed to their boards, she added

Liew said with the mandate that the Sabah BN received in the last elections '... they have become very powerful'.

"There is not a single opposition voice in the state assembly and I am very concerned," she said.

In the March general election, Sabah BN won all but one of parliamentary and one state seats. It lost the two seats to pro-BN Independents.

TONY THIEN is malaysiakini 's Sarawak-based stringer.