PBDSB to set up branches in areas with veteran leadership – President
SIBU: Parti Bansa Dayak Bersatu Baru (PBDSB) will strengthen its footing by setting up branches in places such as Lubok Antu where there are party veterans to take the lead, said its president Bobby William.
He said this was among the resolutions reached during a party meeting here Friday night.
“When talking about setting up branches, it doesn’t mean that we are putting up fight against the present government or Pakatan Harapan. We are putting down roots.
“My message to our fellow Dayaks is that PBDSB has never intended to replace any Dayak party such as Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS). We are on our own. Both parties are offshoots of now defunct PBDS,” he said.
Bobby also hoped he would have the opportunity to meet PRS acting president Datuk Joseph Salang to discuss issues affecting the Dayaks.
“I personally hope that I will have the opportunity to see eye-to-eye with Datuk Joseph Salang. There are too many issues affecting the Dayaks that need a roundtable discussion.
“Dayak politicians need to groom younger Dayaks to be future leaders as we are lacking this today.
“We need to develop human capital amongst the Dayaks,” he added.
Meanwhile, Bobby said PBDSB has conducted a post-mortem and identified various weaknesses as well as shortcomings that contributed to its poor showing in the 12th state election.
He attributed the loss of all its candidates to the little time they had to prepare for the polls, given that PBDSB had only just been reinstated in August 2020.
“If we had more space (time), I am very sure the party would have performed much better.
“Moreover, all 11 candidates contested using their own funds with limited resources from the party. So this is a clear proof that PBDSB is a genuine Dayak political party which does not have any sponsor.”
Meanwhile, Bobby said during Friday’s meeting, the party had also launched its Dayak Education Trust Fund to help young Dayaks and students in need of help to pursue further studies.
Noting that the initiative was mooted by the party and supported by the public and party members, he said the funds would be managed by the party’s property officials and a supreme council member as a coordinator.