KUCHING, June 8: Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) today pledged to secede Sarawak from the Federation of Malaysia if it comes to power in the next state election, which is due in 2021.
Its president, Voon Lee Shan, reckoned that Sarawak had the right to exit from the federation.
“Given the unequal distribution of parliamentary seats for Sabah and Sarawak, we cannot take over the Federal Cabinet. Hence, the Federation of Malaya will continue to dominate us in Sabah and Sarawak.
“Therefore, to execute our strategies to exit from the Federation of Malaysia, we, in PBK, urge the people of Sarawak to stand behind us to capture the state government in the coming state election.
“By capturing the state government, we would then be able to make the necessary representations to the federal government to exit or to take legal steps to ensure our dream for an independent Sarawak could be realised,” said Voon, who is formerly Batu Lintang assemblyman.
Voon, who is a practising lawyer, said his party held the view that it was a big mistake for Sarawak to be part of the Federation of Malaysia in the first place.
In a statement today, he opined that the state’s past leaders were unaware of the imperialistic strategies of the Federation of Malaya to expand its control over the people and resources of Sarawak and Sabah by passing laws in Parliament and spreading the wings of its political parties to both Borneo states.
“Once they take over the state government, there will be nothing to disallow them to amend our State Constitution and pass relevant state laws to allow people from the Federation of Malaya to stand in elections here, to do business and to control our economy further.
“They can also take our immigration rights away by amending the laws,” he cautioned.
He commented that the steps taken by the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS)-led state government to reclaim autonomy and the state’s rights “are not giving much security and comfort to us (PBK)”.
“This is because we have patiently waited for the past 56 years for our rights to be given back to us, and the Federation of Malaya, through the Federal Cabinet, was quiet or slow to give back our rights.
“We would also say that there is no guarantee that the federal government will not take back what would be given back to us,” he added. — DayakDaily
