KUCHING, Sept 19: The series of announcements by Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) and its newfound ally Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) revealing their candidates for parliamentary seats illustrate how insincere they are in really wanting to unite the opposition votes against Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS).
In stating this, Democratic Action Party’s (DAP) Michael Kong said thus far, PBK and PSB have announced their candidates for Sibu, Lanang and Mas Gading parliamentary seats.
“These are all seats currently held by DAP Members of Parliament. Such a move is a sign that PSB has no intention to cooperate with DAP but instead to fight DAP head on,” said Kong who is the special assistant to Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen, in a statement.
Kong noted DAP had on a few occasions embarked on negotiations with PSB in hopes of forming a greater opposition front against GPS.
“While PSB claims DAP’s stance (that incumbent seats are non-negotiable) would mean all urban seats are DAP’s, that narrative is simply untrue.
“Many other urban and semi-urban seats in Sarawak are currently not held by DAP. Seats like Bintulu is very much an urban seat formerly fought (for) by DAP but DAP had always been magnanimous to agree to negotiate (candidates for) the seat provided that PSB is sincere and agrees to the same principles as DAP which is to push for a clean and competent government,” said Kong
He said the recent events leave much to be desired, claiming that many members of the public lamented the opposition’s inability to cooperate, but they also understand that in the constant quest to challenge DAP’s incumbent seats, the unreasonable party is PSB and not DAP.
He opined that as long as the main decisions for PSB continue to be made by PSB president Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh, the hope for a larger and more formidable opposition to bring the fight to GPS can only be a dream. — DayakDaily
