PSB to ‘fight’ way back into mainstream Sarawak politics, says Soon Koh

KUCHING: Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) aims to shake up the political landscape of Sarawak especially with the state election just around the corner, its president Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh said.

He said the party is intent on fielding ‘winnable’ candidates in the next state polls as part of efforts to fight its way back into mainstream politics.

“PSB will choose the most winnable candidates to contests in all the seats in Kuching, including Batu Kawa, Kota Sentosa, Pandungan, Batu Kitang, Pending and Batu Lintang,” he told a crowd of about 1,000 during the party’s southern zone branches’ MidAutumn Festival dinner, here on Sunday.

Contenting that life is a cycle filled with good and bad times, the Bawang Assan assemblyman remarked that it was normal for one’s journey to be filled with challenges and smooth periods.

“The most important thing is to be able to take decisive action when the need arises,” he remarked.

Wong said for the past six months, PSB has registered tremendous growth in its membership base especially in Dayak-majority rural seats, causing some within Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) to view PSB as a threat.

He added the animosity increased further when PSB decided to accept a number of current and former GPS component party leaders into its fold.

“Because of this, some Gabungan Parti Sarawak component parties regarded us as a threat and they took a series of measures against us, to marginalise us.

“That was when I felt I no longer had the moral locus standi to represent our party PSB in the state cabinet. It is also a matter of political integrity that I resigned from the cabinet,” said Wong.

He recounted that it was a tough decision to resign as Second Finance Minister – a post he had held for 15 years – and as International Trade and E-Commerce Minister, which he had served for two years.

However, he said his resignation was for the best interest of PSB, which now had the ‘freedom and flexibility’ to chart its political path.

“Now we (PSB) are free to do what we want. Not like in the past when we were GPS-friendly – squabbling with people here and there but we were neither here nor there.

“But now, the path ahead of us is wide open. Our future is going to be very bright.”

Wong reckoned that with the support of the community as the party’s backbone, PSB will be able to fight for a fairer and equal Sarawak, where the interest of the people will be protected irrespective of race, faith, culture and background.

With the ‘tens of thousands’ applying to join the party, he said PSB is now preparing to set up service centres and branches to enable it to better serve the people.

“The political path ahead of PSB is certainly broader and brighter. We promise to the diverse society of ours that we will fight for the rights and interests of Sarawakians. We will fight for equality and justice for all, irrespective of race,” he said.