By William Isau
SIBU, April 6: Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) has dissolved—putting an end to weeks of speculation on the fate of the party.
With that, more than 80,000 PSB members have been accepted en bloc into the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP).
PDP president Datuk Sri Tiong King Sing said the top leaders of PSB would be made vice presidents of PDP.
“We will make Datuk Sri Wong Soon Koh senior vice president and Dr Johnicol Rayong (Engkilili assemblyman) and Baru Bian (Ba’kelalan) vice presidents,” said Tiong at a unity dinner tonight.
The dinner attended by 2,000 members was to welcome former PSB members into PDP.
According to Tiong, they would have to hold an extraordinary general meeting soon to absorb the trio for the positions.
“We need Soon Koh as the senior vice president due to his vast experience in politics,” he added.
Tiong also urged his party members at all levels to welcome the former PSB members.
“If there are any shortcomings, let’s solve them through roundtable discussions as we are one family now,” he said.
The party was initially founded as the United People’s Party and officially launched on August 17, 2014. UPP was re-branded to United Sarawak Party or Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) after an Extraordinary Delegates Conference (EDC) on December 8, 2018.
Datuk Sri Wong Soon Koh, who was PSB’s president, expressed his appreciation to PDP’s president, party leaders, and members for welcoming them into the party—likening it to ‘one big family’.
“We have been engaged since last year, and now we are married. PSB, as advised by the Registrar of Societies Malaysia (ROS), held our Special Delegate Conference on February 17, 2024, and we met ROS on March 11, 2024, and we received the letter of dissolution on March 19.
“Therefore, PSB, as an opposition party, has now become history. We are sad that the party we founded and formed had to be dissolved. But we are happy to have chosen a new home. We are happy with our decision,” he said.
Wong emphasised that with the combined forces of PDP and the former PSB, they have now become a big family working closely together to give their fullest to the Sarawak government under Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg, particularly in his efforts to put the State’s development and economy in a different paradigm.
“Since our Premier has provided a visionary and progressive leadership, we should join hands together to strive for the shared visions with the Premier to achieve the common goals for a common good,” he added.
On July 13 last year, PSB, which is also the opposition party which won three seats in the 12th State Election (PRN12) in 2021, announced its support for the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Abang Johari.
In PRN12, PDP won in five State constituencies: Tasik Biru through Dato Henry Harry Jinep, Krian (Friday Belik), Meluan (Roland Duat), Dudong (Tiong), and Marudi (Datuk Pengguang Manggil).
At the parliamentary level, PDP is represented by Tiong (Bintulu) and Dato Anyi Ngau (Baram).
Meanwhile, PSB won in Engkilili through Dr Johnicol Rayong, Ba’kelalan (Baru Bian), Bawang Assan (Soon Koh), and Batu Lintang (See Chee How) in PRN12.
However, in August 2022, See announced his exit from PSB and became an independent assemblyman. — DayakDaily
