KUCHING, May 16: Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) will assume the position of being an opposition party where it vows to act as responsible opposition.
Its president Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing said it will not oppose for the sake of opposing.
“That is, we want to be an opposition (force) that is credible and believable, so that when the time for change comes, the people of Malaysia will once again believe in us,” said Masing at a press conference after the party’s supreme council meeting this morning.
He said the party will expose any wrongdoings and irregularities in the administration.
“We will oppose them and we will propose solutions in ways that are beneficial to the people of Malaysia,” said Masing, who is also Deputy Chief Minster.
Masing, who is also Infrastructure Development and Transportation Minister said he and a few of PRS’ elected representatives, as well as many members, were no strangers to being in the opposition as they were in the opposition for seven years, from 1987 to 1994.
He said during the May 9 general election, the people of Malaysia had spoken where they wanted Pakatan Harapan and its associate parties to administer Malaysia in the next five years.
PRS respected that wish and “will play its role as an opposition in governing this nation in a manner spelt out in a democratic process”.
Similarly, during the 2016 state election, Sarawakians had also spoken with a loud and clear voice that they wanted BN to administer Sarawak.
“They gave us two-thirds’ majority in the state assembly. It is therefore, my hope that PH (Pakatan Harapan) understands its implications while administering the Federation of Malaysia.
“At federation level, PH controls, and at state level, BN administers. The understanding, the constitutional as well as the financial obligations of the federation to the states within its jurisdiction must not get lost in the euphoria of winning a general election,” said Masing.
As an opposition government, he said the Sarawak BN government will remind PH of its constitutional obligation to Sarawak and other states which chose not to join PH. — DayakDaily
