KUCHING, May 12: Although Pakatan Harapan (PH) is now the government of Malaysia, Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak Baru (PBDSB) is adamant in continuing with their struggle for the ‘Dayak Agenda’.
Its Youth chief Rapelson Richard Hamit said PBDSB will be a ‘watch dog’ to monitor all PH manifesto promises made to Sarawakians before the 14th General Election (GE14).
“PH said they will fulfil their promises such as abolishing GST in 100 days, should they take over the government. Since PH has successfully thrown Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and UMNO out, we hope the PH government will recognise the existence of Dayak and us Dayak as a race in Malaysia.
“Our Dayak agenda is to claim our native customary rights (NCR) land, religious freedom, economic opportunities, education and employment in the public sector,” Rapelon said in a statement yesterday.
PBDSB is also demanding for the state to have a Dayak Chief Minister by 2021. According to Rapelson, Datuk Seri Tawi Sli was the last Dayak Chief Minister, replacing Tan Sri Datuk Amar Stephen Kalong Ningkan.
“We want Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad to fulfill his promise on the implementation of Malaysia Agreement 1963. We want Mahathir to consider appointing a Deputy Prime Minister I from Malaya, a Deputy Prime Minister II from Sarawak and a Deputy Prime Minister III from Sabah. The Prime Minister’s post must also be on a two-term rotation basis between Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak.
“He must also be aware of the existence of local opposition parties in Sarawak,” Rapelson added. — DayakDaily
