No swapping of Baram seat between PBB, PDP — Uggah
MARUDI: There has never been any intention or plan to swap the Baram parliamentary seat between Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) and Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), despite the claims from certain quarters.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas views such allegation as baseless, pointing out that Baram has always been allocated to PDP – starting from the days of the now-defunct Sarawak National Party (SNAP), to Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) before its rebranding to PDP.
“PBB has never intended to take the (Baram) seat, or plan a switch with PDP in Baram. On the contrary, we (PBB) will support the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for Baram, as the general election (GE) will be held soon.
“At this point in time, we do not know who the candidate is because we are still waiting for the announcement from the Prime Minister; what is certain is the BN candidate for Baram is a representative of PDP. Who is that candidate, is up to the Prime Minister as the top BN leader to announce it,” Uggah spoke during the ‘Leaders-Meet-People – Segulai Sejalai’ session ‘at Rumah Benang Pilang of Sungai Bakas in Bakong yesterday.
Uggah, who is PBB deputy president, reiterated that rumours about the party wanting to put its candidate in Baram was not true at all, in that Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg who is PBB president, had already approved the PDP candidate for Baram seat.
“Do not believe in rumours. This is the problem that we are facing with cyber world today, because it (news) is more believable than the real thing.
“So, when we as citizens and smart consumers should not immediately consider such stories on Facebook as being true. Refer to our leaders first to verify the stories – there are always people who will try to disturb and break us apart.”
On the situation in Baram, said to be among the ‘hot areas’ for this election, Uggah said if the previous score was ‘C with a chance of winning’, this time he wanted to see Baram ‘getting A+’.