KUCHING, April 5: Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) believes that any seat won during the parliamentary elections by a political party from Malaya is a seat taken away from Sarawak for Malaya, according to PBK president Voon Lee Shan.
In response to Democratic Action Party (DAP) chairman Chong Chieng Jen’s remarks on the possibility of working with major Opposition parties to take on the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) coalition, Voon said in a statement that the DAP and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) being from Malaya would not be able to fight for Sarawak rights.
“Being from Malaya, isn’t it in their best interests to help Malaya take more seats away from Sarawak?
“If DAP and PKR were concerned about Sarawak, they could have repealed the Petroleum Development Act 1974, the Territorial Sea Act 2012, and the Continental Shelf Act 1966 during Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) 22-month reign, but they did not.
“These Acts stripped our State of its rights to fisheries, marine and mineral resources, particularly oil and gas, tourism sites in marine areas, and so on, which are now limited to only three nautical miles (5.56 km) from our coastline,” he explained.
Voon went on to say that Petronas transports approximately 850,000 barrels of crude oil from Sarawak every day, and that if these oil and gas resources were returned to Sarawak, the state could be as wealthy as, if not wealthier than, Dubai.
“If political parties from Malaya, such as the DAP and PKR, want to protect Sarawak rights or fight GPS, they should dissolve the DAP and PKR in Sarawak and join any local political parties of their choice to fight GPS.
“Local political parties would find it difficult to work with them if they were not dissolved because they are seen as proxies for Malaya,” he asserted.
Additionally, Voon pointed out that Sarawak DAP’s claim of complete autonomy in political decisions defies belief as the party is controlled by their bosses in Malaya under the whip system of parliamentary democracy, which is practised in this country.
“If Sarawakians want to see Sarawak interests protected or taken care of, they must support local political parties seeking a peaceful and legal exit from the Malaysian federation.
“Sarawak receives 31 of the 222 seats in parliament, while Sabah receives only 25. This is how Malaya maintains economic and political control over Sarawak and Sabah,” Voon said. — DayakDaily
