By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, April 1: Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Vice President Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah holds that Sri Aman MP Datuk Masir Kujat should just retire if it is the latter’s time to stop.
Acknowledging that they are friends, Abdul Karim disagreed with what Masir was doing – leaving Parti Sarawak Bersatu and waiting to join another party.
“Masir is my friend, but I don’t agree. If he thinks it’s time for him to stop, just retire.
“You don’t jump here and there looking for a place to survive,” he told reporters after witnessing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony between DayakDaily and Friends of Sarawak Museum (FoSM) at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) here yesterday.
In response to the press’ inquiries whether Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) would consider taking Masir in under its wings, Abdul Karim did not answer the question directly but pointed out that the ruling coalition already has sufficient candidates for the coming general election, including Sri Aman constituency.
“Well, GPS has got ample candidates for this parliamentary election. So, personally I see, even for the area that he’s holding, we (GPS) do have good candidates for that area,” he said.
Meanwhile, Abdul Karim described those hopping from one political party to another as “desperate men stranded at sea trying to reach out for any nearby logs to survive”.
The Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts said such politicians would cling onto any log, despite them being old, in order to ‘stay afloat’.
Abdul Karim said he could not support Masir’s decision as he viewed hopping between political parties as unhealthy, and to him, party hoppers, which in general have been called “political frogs” were politicians with questionable integrity.
Masir was a PRS member from 2008 to 2019. In March 2019, he left PRS and joined PSB where he was made a presidential council member.
During the 2021 Sarawak Election, he contested as PSB’s Balai Ringin candidate but he lost to incumbent Datuk Snowdan Lawan.
Two days ago on March 30, Masir left PSB, pledging loyalty to Prime Minister Datuk Ismail Sabri Yaakob. He however, did not announce joining any party. — DayakDaily
