KUCHING, June 15: Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS)’s Supreme Council will explore tomorrow the possibility of forming a single party for all races and creeds in the state.
Its president, Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing, opined that if Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) were to merge into a single multiracial party, there would be no internal fighting.
GPS presently comprises four parties: PRS, Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) and PDP (Progressive Democratic Party).
Masing, who is also a deputy chief minister, said he had proposed this idea before Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg announced the formation of GPS on June 12.
He recalled that the chief minister was quiet when the proposal was made, but the rest of the party leaders basically rejected the idea.
However, Masing, who is also Minister of Infrastructure Development and Transportation Minister, said he had not given up hope, yet.
“After all, we must understand that Barisan Nasional (BN) lost not because BN, as a coalition, is bad. It is because UMNO was in control (of BN) and too domineering. That was when problems arose.
“When a party becomes too dominant, the leaders become arrogant, and that is the problem,” he told reporters who were covering Abang Johari’s Hari Raya Open House at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) today.
Masing cautioned that if GPS were not careful, it could face the same fate as BN in the next state election, which is due in 2021.
On GPS, he said it needed to get its structure right at the initial stage.
“That is why I say you have to start now … to get the structure correct.”
When asked what he meant by “structure”, he replied, “genuine power sharing”.
“That is very important. No one should be dominant in the coalition. That is the problem with BN. UMNO is too domineering,” he said, adding that former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and scandal-ridden 1MDB were also contributing factors to BN’s stunning defeat in the May 9 general election. — DayakDaily
