By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, June 1: It is rare for politicians to admit to being a political frog and openly justifying such an endeavour by describing it as “intelligent”, according to PBB supreme council member Datu Len Talif Salleh.
He claimed to not be surprised by former Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Sarawak chief Baru Bian joining Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) to perpetuate his own political survival after PKR was fractured by infighting and was no longer saleable in Sarawak.
Len, however, was shocked by Baru’s claim that an “intelligent and good frog jumps”.
“In Sarawak, we have politicians switching parties out of desperation. They resorted to it due to many reasons but none are actually proud of it. Many kept a low profile while doing so.
“So it surprises me that Baru joined PSB in such a high profile manner and even justified his own action by saying that an “intelligent and good frog jumps”,” the Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) leader told DayakDaily.
On Baru joining PSB, Len said he was not surprised because this has not been the first time that Baru has left one party for another.
“I am not surprised by it, this is not the only time he hopped from one party to another. I am however worried that such move will create a negative political trend as the term ‘political frog’ has a negative connotation and politicians have been thinking twice if they are planning to jump parties,” Len opined.
Len who is also the Urban Development and Natural Resources Assistant Minister said political stability depends very much on politicians’ integrity and easy movement of politicians from one party to another will cause political unstability.
“This practice of jumping from one party to another to perpetuate their own interests should not be justified nor encouraged as it will assert a very negative impact on political stability,” he opined.
On May 30, Baru announced he was joining PSB at a press conference. He described politicians who made wise decisions to seek a better platform to grow in their political journey as “intelligent frogs”.
“When a political party does not pursue its original vision or mission that you believe in, like PKR for example, we have no choice but to leave. Well, it will be silly to stay on, right?” he said.
“An intelligent ‘katak’ (frog) will jump while a stupid ‘katak’ will stay,” said Baru during the press conference at PSB’s headquarters on that day. — DayakDaily
