Hajiji delivering his speech at Bersatu’s Annual General Meeting at the Sabah International Convention Centre, yesterday.
KOTA KINABALU: Parti Pribumi Bersatu Sabah (Bersatu) chief Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor has proposed for a third wing to be formed in the party.
Speaking at Bersatu’s 3rd Annual General Assembly which was held virtually yesterday, Hajiji said the new wing is a special platform that will be driven by women.
“Based on the latest data, the total membership of young women under the age of 30 nationwide is only at 20 percent of the total number of members of Bersatu Srikandi.
“With the implementation of the Undi-18 that has been approved in Parliament, it is expected that almost 1.5 million new voters aged 18 to 21 will be eligible to vote in the next GE15.
“This number thus shifts the total number of young voters to 7.8 million people. Of these, 25 percent are young women voters under the age of 30. Looking at these figures, Sabah is of the view that the party needs to take reform measures to encourage the participation of young people, especially young women in the party,” he said.
It was one of three proposals that he pointed out in his speech on behalf of Sabah Bersatu, which he believed would strengthen the party.
The other proposals were about mobilising Bersatu based on the indigenous people without denying the rights of other races and also about implementing aggressive implementation of members recruitment, voters registration and establishment of branches.
“The inclusive definition of indigenous (Pribumi) in our constitution has become an attractive factor to the confidence of the people in Sabah to join Bersatu.
“In this regard, Sabah Bersatu is requesting that the provisions of this constitution be maintained, while our strategy and approach must be mobilized based on this inclusivity.
“Let our constitution, our movement, our speech and our actions, always reflect openness and inclusiveness to bring all the indigenous people with us in Bersatu. At the same time, other races are also comfortable working together through the Perikatan Nasional platform,” he said.
The chief minister said Sabah Bersatu is choosing to highlight the issue based on experience from the newly concluded state election about the importance of cooperation and consensus of the multiracial indigenous compared to racial political rhetoric.
He also further elaborated about Sabah Bersatu’s effort to establish more branches from the beginning without subjecting to district polling centres (PDM) and, supporting the proposed constitutional amendment, which opens the door to the establishment of more branches by village or locality.
In addition to opening up space for an increase in the number of members, Hajiji said the establishment of more branches will enable the party to function more effectively in providing services to the people.
Bersatu Sabah is also hoping that the party membership system can be reopened immediately to facilitate the long-delayed member registration.
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