KUCHING, May 16: Society for Tolerance and Awareness (Softaa) hopes the federal government will appoint former Mas Gading MP Datuk Dr Tiki Lafe as a senator to represent the Bidayuh community.
Softaa secretary-general Mark Murau Sumon said that the society had conveyed this matter to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) secretary-general Datuk Marzuki Yahya during their courtesy call on him at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently.
“Datuk Dr Tiki has been very dedicated and productive in the past 25 years since his last portfolio as a deputy minister, which qualifies him even more for the position.
“We have no doubt that he will be committed as he has clearly demonstrated the required professionalism and in-depth experience in the field. Moreover, he is a good communicator and able to understand problems facing the people, especially the Bidayuh community,” said Mark.
Mark cited Article 45 Clause 2 of the Federal Constitution, which states that “Members to be appointed by the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong shall be persons who in his opinion have rendered distinguished public service or have achieved distinction in the profession, commerce, industry, agriculture, cultural activities or social service or are representatives of racial minorities or are capable of representing the interests of aborigines”, whereby any NGO or civil society group has the right to propose.
“We do really hope the Sarawak government has good rapport with the federal government so that this proposal can be realised,” he said.
Mark added that Softaa would also pursue this matter with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to get Dr Tiki appointed as a senator to represent the Bidayuhs. — DayakDaily
