KUCHING, April 8: Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing believes that the Barisan Nasional (BN) manifesto for the 14th General Election (GE14) reflects BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s understanding of the needs of Sarawak.
As such, he called on Sarawakians to grant support to Najib’s leadership.
Masing, who is also Deputy Chief Minister said Najib understood the needs of Sarawak much better than Pakatan Harapan (PH) advisor Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Citing parts of the manifesto concerning Sarawak, he said: “The BN manifesto is good for Sarawak”.
“Prime Minister Najib recognises MA63 (Malaysia Agreement 1963) and the need to honour what were agreed,” pointed out Masing in a statement today.
He said the right to extract oil and gas within Sarawak’s territorial waters is recognised by Putrajaya which would give Sarawak better revenue than the curent 5 per cent oil royalty.
“Najib understands Sarawak much better then Tun Mahathir and, therefore, Sarawak must continue to support Najib’s leadership,” said the Infrastructure Development and Transportation Minister.
Masing cautioned that since the opposition coalition PH will be contesting under one symbol, it would be a tough fight in which BN would still triumph.
“If all parties under PH agree to use one symbol for GE14 to fight BN, then we have a real fight on our hands. We must fight hard and fight smart. However, BN still can win,” said Masing.
In the BN manifesto which was announced yesterday, Najib promised to improve the quality of telecommunications coverage across Sarawak and Sabah through an allocation of RM2 billion.
It also stated that “the rights of Sabah and Sarawak under MA63 will be realised by consensus”.
Apart from that, he promised to upgrade longhouses in Sarawak, and incorporate more historical facts and perspectives from Sarawak and Sabah to enhance the History subject syllabus in schools. — DayakDaily
