KUCHING, Oct 24: Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) president Voon Lee Shan has claimed that there is a possibility that the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government could change the position of the Sarawak TYT into ‘Sultan’.
In a statement issued today, Voon said he was asked to raise Sarawakians’ concerns over the issue. With the lack of an Opposition voice in Sarawak, he said they should not discount the possibility of GPS amending the Sarawak Constitution to turn the Sarawak TYT into ‘Sultan’.
“The GPS government could always justify this move by claiming that Malaysia is an Islamic State because the majority of Malaysians are Muslims and the Head of State should be a Muslim, and the most appropriate title for the Head of State is Sultan, not TYT or Governor,” he said, adding that Sarawak did have a Sultan before; Sultan Ibrahim Ali Omar Shah or Sultan Tengah.
He said since a Sultan has to be a Muslim, it would not sit well with the 62 per cent of Christians and 13 per cent of Buddhists residing in Sarawak.
“Christians, being the majority in Sarawak, had aspired to become the Head of State even before Malaysia came into existence. In fact, former Chief Minister Dato Stephen Kalong Ningkan had proposed (Tun) Jugah Barieng to be the Governor, but this was rejected by Malaya even before Malaysia was formed.
“This later on saw Tun Datuk Abang Openg Abang Sapiee, the father of the Sarawak Premier, became the first Governor of Sarawak,” he said.
Voon added that should the Sarawak Head of State be addressed as Sultan, there would not be any reason for Sabah, Penang, and Melaka not to follow suit.
“Therefore, to break the control of DUN (Sarawak Legislative Assembly) by GPS government is to preserve democracy and only with PBK in DUN could we monitor any abuse of democracy in DUN.
“Therefore, I urge Sarawakians not to take the Jepak by-election lightly, and I also urge voters to vote for the PBK candidate in this by-election so that our voice could be heard,” he said.
PBK’s candidate for Jepak, Stevenson Joseph Sumbang, will face a three-corner fight with Chieng Lea Phing from Sarawak People’s Aspiration Party (Aspirasi) and Iskandar Turkee from GPS. — DayakDaily
