By Nur Ashikin Louis
KUCHING, Nov 1: Sarawak will have a lesser voice in Parliament if Democratic Action Party (DAP) or Pakatan Harapan (PH) Sarawak wins parliamentary seats in Sarawak, says Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) president Voon Lee Shan.
He was responding to Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen who on Oct 21, said that PH has a high possibility of forming the federal government again if DAP can defend their six seats in Sarawak for the coming 15th General Election (GE15).
Voon said it is a perception of the voters that MPs elected under political parties from Malaya have to listen to directives from their bosses in Malaya.
In other words, local leaders of political parties from Malaya have no autonomy at all over matters affecting Sarawak’s rights and wealth.
“Sarawak only has 31 seats. Say that 20 seats are won by DAP or PH, we will only be left with 11 seats.
“Our voices will become smaller and smaller in Parliament,” he said in a press conference at his office in Saradise here today.
Thus, he opined that Sarawak DAP in particular, should withdraw itself from contesting in GE15 and give way to local opposition parties such as PBK, Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) and Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) to square off with Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS).
He also opined that Sarawakians will have doubts over the sincerity of PH leaders in both Malaya and the Borneo States if the voters read the “My Story: Justice in the Wilderness” book written by former attorney general Tan Sri Tommy Thomas.
In the book,Voon claimed, there was no mention of MPs from Sarawak DAP lobbying for the return of 20 per cent oil royalty and 50 per cent tax revenues collected from Sarawak.
He also claimed the book disclosed that the then Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, back in 2019, was persistent in getting the federal government to intervene and lend support to Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) in the legal proceedings over the constitutionality of the State Sales Tax imposed by the Sarawak government, of which Tommy had declined his request.
Voon further said if PBK-PSB-PBDS are voted into Parliament, the first thing they will move is a motion to repeal the Petroleum Development Act (PDA) 1974.
“If the motion is allowed to be debated, then we will know who among the Sarawakians or Sabahans are traitors of this country if you don’t support us. Then the public will come to know.
“This is the reason why we alone can do a lot of repair on (sic) the federal government,” he said. — DayakDaily
