KUCHING, April 6: Local Sarawak political parties should band together; if there is a hung parliament, we are kingmakers, says Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) president Voon Lee Shan.
In a statement issued today, he stated that if there is a hung parliament, local parties that banded together and won seats in Parliament can become kingmakers and dictate national policies.
“Perhaps, as kingmakers, local political parties can work out a plan with the Federal government to exit the Malaysian federation legally and peacefully,” he said.
Voon went on to say that at the moment, the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government is the kingmaker, but it is a ‘disappointment’ due to its inability to demand things according to Sarawkians’ expectations.
“Sarawak must reclaim its oil and gas, but the GPS government and Malayan political parties have been unable to see the return of Sarawak’s oil and gas. When Democratic Action Party (DAP) and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) were in power, they were given the opportunity to do so, but they chose not to see it.
“PBK recognises that forming a coalition with DAP and PKR would be extremely difficult due to their failure to keep election promises, including the promise to give Sarawak 20 per cent of oil and gas royalties during the last General Election,” he stated.
“Consider the following scenario: if local political parties win twenty (20) and Malayan political parties win five (5) of the thirty-one (31) allocated parliamentary seats in Sarawak, Malayan political parties retain control of local political parties.
“This is because Malayan political parties are always capable of winning more seats in Malaya than the coalition’s twenty-five (25) seats in Sarawak.
“As a result, any collaboration with Malayan political parties will be ineffective in defending Sarawak’s interests,” he explained.
Furthermore, Voon mentioned that there is no need for a Malayan party if Sarawak political parties want to be recognised at the Federal level. — DayakDaily
