KUCHING, March 9: Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) Youth member cum political secretary to the Chief Minister, Charles Chad Nissom, has dismissed claims that there is a crisis in his party.
“PRS wish to categorically state that there is no crisis in the party. What Datuk Masir Kujat, MP for Sri Aman, did by opting to quit from PRS and joined another party is his own endeavour, his own doing, in his own accord and with risks attached. It mirrors how democracy blossoms and prevails in PRS, where everyone has their own free choice, except that it fell short of gratitude.
“There were no squabbles, no feuds and no one being pressured or told to leave at all. It was a matter of choice on his part, and PRS honours that esteemed characteristic of democracy,” he said in a statement today.
Nissom described Masir’s move to join Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) as a “pinching move” to make up the numbers in the party (PSB) and to hold GPS ransom.
“If you analyse the political situation currently and correctly, it is not wrong to conclude that it is more of the work of `pinching’ by some quarters who formally are not in the ruling state coalition of the day to lure an existing lawmaker from PRS into their fold, just to make the numbers and probably an impact.
“It’s an effort to create animosity to shake the political stability within the ruling coalition. It is not a PRS crisis
“It is done with a purpose. It is an attempt `to be heard’, a step taken by pressuring the GPS government to accept them formally into the coalition and not willing to be on hold further, after having been in the state executive over a period of time. It is a manoeuvre intended to put the state GPS in ransom,” he asserted.
Nissom reiterated that initially, this might look like a ‘storm in a cup of tea’ but if left unchecked, it might blow into a tsunami, with the risks forthcoming along its way.
“To them, it is a race against time, doing it by crook having failed by the hook. PRS remains intact nevertheless. The only PRS party member that jumped ship was YB Datuk Masir Kujat. The likes of Datuk Joseph Entulu and Datuk William Nyallau Badak were already non-party members even before GE14, so it is of little consequence to us,” he added. — DayakDaily
