Warisan rep tells Sabah speaker to resign over graft scandal

Summary

• Warisan reps Justin Wong and Calvin Chong tell Sabah legislative speaker Kadzim Yahya to resign after the latter was implicated in a corruption scandal.

• The Sri Tanjong and Elopura assemblypersons say this is crucial to upholding the separation of powers and the integrity of the state assembly.

• Wong also tells voters to vote wisely in the upcoming state election.

Sabah state legislative assembly speaker Kadzim Yahya should resign after being implicated in a corruption scandal, said Warisan assemblypersons Justin Wong and Calvin Chong.

They stressed that this is crucial to upholding the separation of powers between the executive, legislative, and judiciary. 

Wong, who is the Sri Tanjong assemblyperson, emphasised that the separation of powers is fundamental in preventing corruption, as no single entity should hold absolute power.

“The speaker is the leader and overseer of the assembly proceedings. However, the revelation of conversations suggesting his involvement in business dealings raises concerns about potential abuse of power.

“This tarnishes the credibility of the separation of powers system,” he added.

Chong, who is the Elopura assemblyperson, went a step further and called for all lawmakers implicated in the scandal to temporarily resign.

“This is a needed step to avoid them from intervening in the ongoing investigation and to ensure they won’t erase or hide important evidence,” he added in a statement today.

‘Do elected reps serve themselves?’

Kadzim has denied using his position to secure contracts and claimed to be unaware of the RM350,000 mentioned in a video exposed by a businessperson.

The speaker said he had merely borrowed RM50,000 from the businessperson, who claimed that he had bribed several assemblypersons to secure mining-related licences in the state.

Wong stated that it is up to the MACC to determine whether Kadzim is involved in corruption. However, he added that the speaker should step down to uphold the integrity of the legislative institution.

According to the assemblyperson, the corruption scandal has raised doubts among the public about whether elected representatives genuinely serve the people or prioritise their own interests.

“If an elected representative involved in a corruption scandal can still hold onto their position, how can the people trust the government?

“Does the Sabah government operate under the policy of ‘leaders can do whatever they want, but the people must stay silent’?” he questioned.

‘Vote wisely’

Wong also highlighted that the Sabah state election is expected to be held this year, and the people must make a wise decision on whether to continue relying on national political parties or give local parties a chance to govern the state, as seen in Sarawak.

“The people must decide for themselves - with all these corruption cases and state development issues, do we want to continue depending on outsiders to bring change, or do we want local leaders to manage our state?” he asked.

“We can see Sarawak’s success under local party governance. Their economy is growing, and they do not face water and electricity supply issues. But look at Sabah over the past five years - we still suffer from power outages, water shortages, floods, and poorly maintained roads. Is this the legacy we want to leave for future generations?” he added.

In a related development, Warisan vice-president Junz Wong recalled his previous caution to the implicated assemblypersons not to rejoice over MACC’s statement that edited videos cannot be used as evidence.

“I told you not to be too happy,” he quipped in a TikTok video in response to Lawyers for Liberty handing over the full, unedited videos to MACC.

Since last November, the businessperson has released nine videos and a trove of Whatsapp messages, which were published by Malaysiakini.

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