KUCHING, Oct 18: Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) Chief Whip Dato Sri Fadillah Yusof has rubbished the “twisted idea” by Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) president Voon Lee Shan that a strong federal government will not benefit Sarawak.
Fadillah, who is also caretaker Minister of Works, has termed Voon’s statement as nonsense which simply does not make any sense.
“In fact the opposite is true as events and our track record since the formation of GPS in 2018 has proven that a strong bloc of MPs (Members of Parliament) from GPS in the federal government has led to more benefits for Sarawak,” he hit back in a statement today.
Fadillah, who is the Petra Jaya incumbent, stressed a greater number of MPs from GPS in the federal government has, can and will bring a stronger and more assertive voice to Sarawak’s demands for Sarawak and all Sarawakians.
“It is common sense to all except Voon that a strong GPS equals a stronger voice for Sarawak in the federal government. A weak GPS is equal to a weaker voice for Sarawak in the federal government,” he added.
He was referring to a statement from Voon today who claimed that a strong federal government is not necessarily good for Sarawak and Sabah. Voon opined that Barisan Nasional’s (BN) grip of power in the past decades given that the Borneo states were “fixed deposits” have led to them to becoming complacent with a “tidak apa” (nevermind) attitude to develop Sarawak and Sabah.
Each year, Voon said, the federal government thought it was justified or enough that Sarawak should get a budget of no more than RM5 billion, despite Sarawak contributing significant revenues to the federal coffers from oil and gas resources.
Through the power of leverage, Voon opined, GPS should not let Sarawak be “led by the nose” by the federal government but “should play a cat and mouse game” in order to get what Sarawak wants.
Calling on Sarawakians to weaken GPS in the forthcoming 15th General Election (GE15), Voon said it is time that people of Sarawak vote GPS out, while urging voters to switch to local opposition parties to “shake up Malaya and get them humbled themselves before Sarawakians”. — DayakDaily
