By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, Dec 15: Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) information chief Datuk Idris Buang deemed the recent exodus of Umno members as Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) potential problem, especially if they are accepted into Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu).
“Their leaving Umno will not affect Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) in any way. Instead, it will affect PH badly.
“PH used to fight Umno and to bring Umno down. Now they get Umno 2.0 for free through Bersatu. I wish PH all the best,” Idris, who is Muara Tuang assemblyman, told DayakDaily today.
He said the main objective of Pakatan before the last general election (on May 9) was to bring down Umno, which they did.
“And after bringing down Umno, now it seems that Bersatu is very keen to take back as many Umno leaders as possible.
“While Bersatu is willing, PKR and DAP see that as against their initial principle and their promise to the voters who supported them during the last election. So, I see this more of a problem for PH rather than to GPS,” Idris added.
He opined that for GPS, business would be as usual, and the Sarawak coalition was not affected in terms of morale.
“It has nothing to do with us. It is the squabbles between PKR, DAP and Bersatu. As for GPS, we will continue to serve the people as usual and continue to operate as a local coalition that is void of West Malaysian influence.
“We will continue to fight and uphold Sarawak’s rights, regardless of the change of politics in West Malaysia or Sabah,” he said.
Recently, nine assemblymen, five MPs and two senators from Sabah Umno resigned en bloc, leaving Sabah Umno with only one MP and one assemblyman.
Even though these elected representatives now remained as independents, they are speculated to be joining Bersatu. This is because Bersatu chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had said they met him before making the announcement to leave Umno.
Both Dr Mahathir and Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) president Mat Sabu did not object to the idea of taking in these former Umno elected representatives, while the DAP and PKR were against it.
Pakatan comprises Bersatu, Amanah, DAP and PKR.
Meanwhile, in the most recent statement, DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang gave blessings to these Umno leaders on the condition that they “atone for their sins”. — DayakDaily
