By Karen Bong
KUCHING, Aug 16: Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How, who left Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) to become an independent candidate, will stay away from party politics to focus on working with “everybody and anybody” regardless of affiliation or background so as to better serve his constituents and Sarawak as a whole.
See admitted that he had been thinking for “quite a number of months” before finally deciding to resign from PSB whose intention had been expressed to the party during its meetings on Aug 8 and 11.
“It is not about the party as PSB and president Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh wanted a platform to bring about changes in Sarawak, which is a noble effort. The party has the membership and a lot of the party leaders and members are working very hard as well.
“Everybody has a place and wants to contribute. I think there are different ways to do it. If I can be free of party politics, I could spend more time with all the work that I have been doing and I could do much more in different areas and ways.
“From now onwards, I’ll let the work and outcome tell the stories,” he said at a press conference at his service centre in 3rd Mile here today.
On Wong’s response to his resignation which indicated possible legal actions to get him to compensate and resign as a State assemblyman due to certain “undertakings”, See did not want to delve into it as there are issues that may be contentious to possible court cases.
“That you have to ask Dato Sri. I can’t talk about how he or the party feels as I am out of the party now. Of course if he sends me a legal action letter we’ll look into that,” he said.
However, he referred to Article 17 (6) and (7) of the State Constitution in which he said, “It was giving a voluntary undertaking to the (State Legislative Assembly or DUN) Speaker, and not the party.”
“I don’t know if the letter signed was given to the DUN Speaker but as you can read from Dato Sri’s (Wong) statement, it may not be very voluntary.
“As this is a subject matter that could lead to court cases so I will not be able to reveal too much. My lawyers have advised me not to talk about this but you can look into the constitution to have an opinion on that,” he added.
See also dismissed any plans of forming a new party and joining another party in the near future or even contesting in the upcoming parliamentary election, stressing that he will focus on Sarawak.
“I have been thinking a lot about how we can actually move and look forward, getting everybody regardless of political affiliation and background to come together and work together for the good of Sarawak, to make Sarawak better and benefit every Sarawakian.
“I’m thinking of initiatives that can be done to achieve that aim,” he said.
On whether his sudden announcement was due to the new anti-party hopping law, See emphasised that it had nothing to do with that and insisted that the decision was due to his intent to stay away from party politics and achieve what he had set out to do originally as a politician. — DayakDaily
