Baru, See officially join PSB
Former PKR leaders, more than 20 former party members switch camp to PSB, more expected to follow
KUCHING: Ba Kelalan assemblyman Baru Bian and Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How have joined Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) together with over 20 other former Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) members.
They officially announced their move during a press conference at the PSB headquarters here yesterday.
PSB president Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh said he welcomed them into the party because they had common aspirations for the future of Sarawak.
“Baru’s ‘vision of hope’ encapsulates PSB’s objectives of making Sarawak a truly multiracial society in which all Sarawakians are given equal opportunities to live and prosper.
“We are committed to a multiracial, multi-religious, and multicultural society, and a Sarawak identity and ideology that does not distinguish people on the basis of race, religion, and culture, and we believe that building of a progressive and stable Sarawakian society can only be on the basis of equality, justice, and mutual respect among all communities.
“And so the meeting of minds gives us the confidence to work together. We are indeed very happy to accept Baru and See into our party PSB,” Wong said.
He added as Baru and See are elected representatives, they were automatically appointed as members of the PSB Presidential Council — the highest decisionmaking body in the party.
Baru said the two main reasons they chose to join PSB were the time constraints in registering a new party before the next state election expected to be next year, and not to cause further splits among Sarawakians by forming a new party.
“We were reinforced in our belief that a new party is not necessary after discovering that PSB’s aspirations dovetail with ours as laid out in my vision of hope for a new Sarawak,” he said.
Baru said the former PKR members were galvanised to share a common vision with PSB, especially in the desire to see a truly multiracial society living and working together in the spirit of acceptance and inclusiveness.
“We want Sarawak to be a model state in which every person is treated equally regardless of race and religion, and where our natural resources are managed carefully and sustainably for the benefit of all.
“We want Sarawak to have a clean government and administration that will not tolerate corruption in any form,” he said.
Baru said he is confident in Wong’s leadership as the latter was state Finance Minister for 15 years and in the state cabinet for 25 years, including being the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) speaker from 1994 to 1996.
“Dato Sri Wong is in a unique
Baru’s ‘vision of hope’ encapsulates PSB’s objectives of making Sarawak a truly multiracial society in which all Sarawakians are given equal opportunities to live and prosper. — Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh
position to steer us in the right direction. The world economy is in collapse mode now, with Japan and several other countries already in recession.
“Dato Sri Wong will provide the prudent and steady fiscal management needed to see us through tough times ahead,” said Baru.
He added more Sarawak PKR members would resign and join PSB in the next few days.
“I can definitely say we have at least 80 to 90 per cent of the former state PKR leaders on our side. Exactly how many, I don’t have the numbers. It is more than 20 branches,” he said.
Among those present at the press conference were former PKR Lubok Antu chief Nicholas Bawin and former Sarawak PKR information chief Desmond Kho.
Other former PKR leaders joined the press conference via teleconferencing including former Limbang chief Dr Ricardo Baba, former Sri Aman chief Yen Yebeni and vice-chairman Norina Utot, and former Bandar Kuching chairman Simon Siah.