KUCHING, Jan 14: Pakatan Harapan’s No. 1 “old wine” is its chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and many more in Parti Pribumi Malaysia (PPBM) and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).
To Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) publicity chief Datuk Idris Buang, DAP Socialist Youth (DAPSY) publicity secretary Abdul Aziz Isa should look at Pakatan Harapan (PH) component parties and their leaders first before making statements.
“Aziz’s endeavour of using this similitude is rather inapplicable or inappropriate to GPS but more to PH’s component parties. This is because if there is any wine, old or whatever, he could then see it in their PH No. 1 himself, (Dr) Mahathir!” Idris said in a statement today.
Idris was responding to Abdul Aziz’s statement yesterday, where he pointed out that Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) was actually Barisan Nasional (BN), like old wine in a new bottle, and its birth was “just for the sake of political survival and a continuation of BN’s divide and rule strategy.”
Abdul Aziz also held the view that GPS leaders were using racial, religious and regional sentiments to divide Sarawakians to allow the latter to grow stronger.
To Idris, Abdul Aziz’s accusation is baseless as Sarawak did not have racial, religious and regional issues before and after the birth of GPS.
“What is Aziz trying to say? Do we have racial and religious or regional issues here? Do we have racial animosity among different races in Sarawak?
“Do we have religious issues, where GPS or Sarawak BN persecutes those having different religions than itself? No. Instead, GPS, or Sarawak BN, has a history of giving financial aid to all major religions.
“As for regional issues, if the federal government has been fair to Sarawakians, would Sarawakians be so sceptical about it?” Idris asked.
Idris opined that what is was most important to the people of Sarawak is that GPS is a truly Sarawak-based coalition that has Sarawakians’ welfare and well-being in mind.
He said that Sarawak PH component parties were merely parts of its mother parties in Peninsular Malaysia and had no power to make decisions that could benefit the people of Sarawak.
“Therefore, what matters most is that GPS is a true-blue coalition of Sarawak-based parties, unlike Sarawak branches of PH (component) parties.
“They are mere chips off their big main blocks in Semananjung (Peninsular Malaysia) and, hence, not really in a position or rather incapable of deciding what’s best for Sarawakians, unlike GPS,” said Idris. — DayakDaily
