‘Inappropriate’ for Bersatu to set foot on Sarawak — PBB supreme council member
KUCHING: The recent launch of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia ( Bersatu) Sarawak does not go down well with most Sarawakians, says Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu ( PBB) supreme council member Dato Ahmad Ibrahim.
He described the party’s presence in Sarawak as ‘ inappropriate’ and wondered why the party felt that it needed to set foot in the state.
“As far as I’m concerned if ( Bersatu chairman) Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has good intentions for Sarawak, I don’t think it’s appropriate for them to open a branch anywhere in the state.
“This is because Tun Mahathir has an understanding with our then Chief Minister Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, who is now our Yang di-Pertua Negeri, that Umno would not come in. So why now that he is in Bersatu, he wants to come in to Sarawak?” he said in a statement.
According to him, most of those who joined Bersatu Sarawak were previously from local Sarawak parties such as PBB, Parti Rakyat Sarawak ( PRS), Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) and United People’s Party ( UPP).
“These disgruntled people were not happy because they are not holding any positions in their respective parties so they want to set up their own and be holding a certain position.
“To me, they are doing more harm than good because they are splitting the Bumiputera voters across the state,” he opined.
He pointed out that the component parties of Gabungan Parti Sarawak ( GPS); namely PBB, SUPP, PRS and Progressive Democratic Party ( PDP) had always emphasised that the coalition is ‘ friendly’ to the Pakatan Harapan ( PH) federal government.
However, he lamented that PH does not seem to be reciprocal to GPS’ friendship based on their actions which appear to be on the contrary in not being friendly.
“After they won in the 14th General Election ( GE14), they started doing things which caused us to retaliate such as when they instructed the Information Department ( Penerangan) not to give support to our elected representatives from GPS and we reacted by informing our community leaders not to support or attend any of their functions.
“If they can reverse this and show that we are friendly with one another, then both sides will be living in peace and harmony and we won’t be having any of this nonsense,” he remarked.
Ahmad views that there is nothing wrong with the state having an independent party much like Parti Warisan Sabah ( Warisan).
“The Sabahans are very proud of Warisan and they do not welcome Peninsular Malaysiabased parties there. Umno has lost many seats and most likely in the next election, they will be totally out from Sabah.
“So what’s wrong with us being independent? I think PH should respect Sarawak for wanting to be independent in terms of our ideology.”
He said GPS will protect Sarawak’s rights, culture, lands, and resources while at the same time, the people will be taken care of.
“So I think it’s time for PH to retract some of their actions and let’s work together. Right now, we should be focused on uniting all the people, work with the existing structure that we have now and improve it.
“It is not to rule and divide the people further and further away which is very very unhealthy and at the end of the day, the people will suffer.”