Baru unsure if Ali Biju, Willie Mongin will follow suit and join PSB
KUCHING: Krian assemblyman Ali Biju and Puncak Borneo MP Willie Mongin have not indicated whether or not they will join Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB), says Ba Kelalan assemblyman Baru Bian.
Baru, who was former Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Sarawak chairman, said he had told the two his intention of joining PSB and invited them to come along, but so far they had not responded.
“That would be a decision that they will make themselves. I have spoken to both of them, shared our vision, and shared the next step we are taking, which is joining PSB. I have reasoned it to them. They are politicallymature enough to make decisions for themselves,” said Baru in responding to reporters yesterday when asked if Ali and Willie would be following him and Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How in joining PSB.
Ali and Willie applied to join Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) after they together with nine other MPs resigned from PKR after former party deputy president Azmin Ali was sacked.
After the new government was formed in March 10, Ali, who is also Saratok MP, was appointed as Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources while Willie as Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities.
Earlier, Baru and See led more than 20 other former PKR members to join PSB.
They officially announced their move at a press conference at the PSB headquarters here, witnessed by party president Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh.
Since the news of Baru and See joining PSB came out yesterday, many people on social media dubbed Baru and those following him as ‘katak’ (frogs) for ‘jumping from one political party to another’.
When asked to comment, Baru said he and other former PKR leaders had no choice but to leave the party because its leadership had gone astray from its original vision and mission, which was to fight for justice for every Malaysian.
“Politics is dynamic. Politics evolves, and leaders do change. So when you are in a political platform and following a political leader, when they do not maintain and are not pursuing the original vision or mission that you believe in, like PKR for example, when we joined PKR, it’s a party that fought for the justice of everyone. Along the way, its leaders changed.
“So when the leaders change and they divert from the original vision and mission of the party, then you have no choice but to leave. So that’s basically what happened.
“Because they don’t believe in the party’s vision and mission anymore, they have failed you, then you leave the party. It would be silly to stay – that’s how we felt.
“When that happens, and when you leave, people call you ‘katak’. It jumps, but that is a good ‘katak’ – intelligent ‘katak’. An intelligent ‘katak’ have to jump, but a stupid ‘katak’ would stay,” said Baru.
When asked why he did not form a new party instead, Baru said politicians must be wise and pragmatic when making decisions for the betterment of the ‘rakyat’ (people).
He said apart from time constraints where a new party might not be able to be registered on time for the next state election, resources would be very limited and more issues might arise such as collusion with other opposition parties in Sarawak.
“We need to be wise and prudent even in political struggle. A lot of people asked why don’t we start a new independent party. God has given us wisdom. Use your intellect and wisdom. We are very pragmatic. We need to be practical as politicians.
“If you start a new political party, at the end of the day you still have to collude with other political parties. There will be limited resources, fighting with one another and other parties, all these are practical issues that you must look into.
“So for us we decided that this is the best option now for our political struggle,” he said.