500 quit SAPP, force closure of 11 branches

About 500 members of the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) in Tawau have quit the party and expressed support for the Barisan Nasional.
This has caused the closure of 11 party branches, former Tawau SAPP vice-president Mohammad Dahuk said Sunday.
He said that several leaders were among those who left, including Tawau SAPP women's wing head Masja Hussin and youth wing chief Illiyassufyan Mohammad.
Tawau Umno Division chief and Tawau Barisan chairman and the Barisan candidate for the Apas state seat Datuk Tawfiq Abu Bakar Titingan, the Barisan candidate for the Tawau parliamentary seat Datuk Mary Yap Kain Ching and the Barisan candidate for the Sri Tanjong state seat Fung Len Fui were also present at the news conference to announce the closure of the SAPP branches.
The former SAPP members read out a pledge to support the Barisan and cut and snapped their SAPP membership cards in a symbolic gesture of quitting the party.