KUCHING, Sept 19: Sarawak Independence Alliance (SIA) founder Fong Pau Teck denies receiving the open memorandum which were to be submitted to the Sarawak government on Sarawak independence.
He was referring to Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) president Voon Lee Shan’s statement dated Sept 18 which said that SIA was among many campaigners for independence who were aware of the memorandum but did not endorse it.
“I did not receive the memorandum either from Sarawak Association of People’s Aspiration (Sapa) or from Sabah Sarawak Rights Australia New Zealand (SSRANZ).
“Can Voon check on both associations’ chairmen for the reasons why they didn’t send it to me?” he questioned in a statement today.
The memorandum was released by Sapa and SSRANZ, and PBK was among the 23 organisations which had endorsed the open memorandum.
At the same time, Fong who is also a former Pujut assemblyman, criticised Voon for his alleged indecisiveness over Sarawak’s independence.
Fong said SIA has always been consistent in supporting calls for an independence referendum (IR), which is also the main theme of his election campaign during 2016 Sarawak election.
“My stand is always consistent unlike Voon’s, flip flop here and flip flop there, a minute before he agrees on Sarawak independence referendum, a minute later he is against it.
“From the newspaper (article) dated April 2, 2016, Voon said the two largest opposition parties wouldn’t agree about it (IR). He also said that for Sarawak to gain independence is not easy because it requires federal government to agree and amend the Constitution.
“However, now he said Sarawak can achieve independence through unilateral declaration of independence (UDI). No need for the federal government to agree? And no need to amend constitution anymore? I want to ask Voon which one of his statements is true,” he said. — DayakDaily
