KUCHING, Jan 18: Sarawak has been left behind in terms of development due to the failure of Sarawak Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties to fight for the state’s rights and demand for proper development.
Dr Kelvin Yii, special assistant to Bandar Kuching MP Chong Chieng Jen said Sarawak lagging behind in terms of development is not the fault of one man alone.
“Now that Tun (Dr) Mahathir (Mohamad) was named the Prime Minister candidate for Pakatan Harapan (PH) if we take over, there were many quarters from BN who started accusing us of abandoning our principles and also supporting the man who allegedly deprived us of our resources and also proper development when he was in power for 22 years.
“While we do not defend some of the things that Mahathir did, it is important for SUPP (Sarawak United Peoples’ Party), PBB (Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu) and BN Sarawak not to mislead the public on their responsibility to uphold the interest of Sarawak and demand proper development from the Prime Minister of the time, and conveniently throw the blame on that one man for their own failures,” said Yii in a press statement today.
He argued that Mahathir was the Prime Minister of Malaysia for 22 years, and as the Prime Minister, he would need the help of all his Cabinet members and BN Members of Parliament as the government to inform him of all the needs and interest of each state.
“Whether it is the need for more resources, development or even our rights enshrined under the Malaysian Agreement 1963, it is the responsibility of our Sarawakian BN members to inform the Prime Minister or fight for it as they are in the ruling government.
“Since, there was no to little objection from our BN Sarawak members, and also strong support for BN in Sarawak, the assumption by the Prime Minister at that time is that maybe everything is fine in the state. Thus, the focus and blame should not be fully on the actions of that one man, but rather the whole BN Sarawak that has the full responsibility of upholding our rights and interest but failed the people of Sarawak.”
Yii also pointed out the change of tone from BN which is now blaming Mahathir for their own failures to the people of Sarawak, saying these BN leaders are the ones that abandoned their principles requiring taking care of the interest of Sarawak from the beginning and now made a ‘u-turn’ to blame it on Mahathir.
“Fact of the matter is, we in PH (Pakatan Harapan) never abandoned our principles. We still fight for our state’s rights, fight against corruption and fight for the reformation of the institutions even until now. Our message and principles have not changed, it is Mahathir who now sees that we are right and now promotes the reforms that we have been promoting since the beginning.
“The difference that we bring, is that in PH, although Mahathir may be the Prime Minister candidate, he is now closely watched and pressured by the other component parties including DAP,PKR and AMANAH to make sure the interests of Sarawak are taken care of, unlike in BN, where all parties are subservient to UMNO.
“Thus, it is important we remember who is responsible and who are the ones that betray their oath and principles to uphold the interest of the people of Sarawak even though they are part of the ruling sgovernment.” — DayakDaily
