PBDSB will fight for return of Sarawak’s rights only with Sarawak Baru – Veep
KUCHING: Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak Baru (PBDSB) will fight for the return of Sarawak’s rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 only with Sarawak Baru member parties, not with Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) or Pakatan Harapan (PH).
Its vice president Andrew Puro alleged that both GPS and PH could not be trusted on this matter.
He said GPS leaders were once Umno’s cohort when they were in Barisan Nasional (BN) while PH is a Malayan-party coalition, which is no different from BN.
“GPS is harping on this political rhetoric with the hope to gain support from Sarawakians.
“Before ( Pehin Sri) Datuk Patinggi Adenan Satem became chief minister, leaders of GPS/ BN in Sarawak had done nothing to protect or preserve Sarawak’s rights for the past 50 years except ‘rob’ Sarawak for their own personal gain.
“After the demise of Tok Nan (Adenan) till now, there was no action but talk only by the Sarawak BN/GPS leaders,” he said.
He was responding to a suggestion by Parti Rakyat Sarawak ( PRS) Youth that all Sarawakians cast aside their political differences and help the state reclaim all its rights under the MA63 with “one voice”.
PRS Youth chief Datuk Snowdan Lawan said it is vital for everyone to share a common political will on this struggle, adding that political pacts such as GPS, DAP and PKR must also stand together to show there is consensus across the state. “It is of paramount importance that we reach that consensus first, or else we would only be perceived as pursuing a failed consensus,” he was quoted as saying in a news portal.
For Sarawak to get its priorities right, Snowdan suggested all Sarawakians must put aside their political affiliations.
Andrew believes that first, Sarawakians have to topple/remove all GPS leaders and whatever is related to GPS/ BN, which had allowed BN, led by Umno, to gradually take away Sarawak’s rights under the MA63.
He claimed that Sarawak would never regain its rights as long as GPS or PH is the government of the day in Sarawak.
He believes Sarawak Baru is a better alternative than GPS and PH because it shares the same aspiration as the people of Sarawak at large – to protect the state’s rights and natural resources.
Four local-based parties namely State Reform Party ( STAR), Parti Tenaga Rakyat Sarawak ( Teras), Sarawak Workers Party (SWP) and PBDSB had agreed in principle to cooperate under the new coalition.
The alliance’s main agenda is to fight for the state’s autonomy and oil and gas rights, which had been eroded over the decades.