KUCHING, Jan 28: The ‘rakyat’ can still teach Democratic Action Party (DAP) a lesson that voters must be treated with respect and their trust should not be taken for granted, said Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) Stakan branch chairman Dato Sim Kiang Chiok.
In a statement today, Sim opined the same trend would be going against DAP for the coming 15th General Election (GE15), as what happened in the previous Sarawak Election.
“In the coming GE15, I believe that Sarawakians would be wise to realise that Malayan-based parties will not be as sincere and genuine in fighting for the State’s autonomous rights as set in the MA63 (Malaysia Agreement 1963), nor will they assist us to get more power for our State government through devolution process.
“A party that has to answer to their Malayan bosses will be less trusted to do the work for Sarawak’s autonomy as compared to Sarawak-based parties that answer to Sarawakians,” he said.
According to Sim, the SUPP Stakan branch has long believed that the DAP’s ‘Malaysian Malaysia’ ideology itself is against every grain of Sarawak’s rights and autonomy.
He said for DAP, its most sought-after scenario is absolute federalism with all power concentrated in the centre and Sarawak’s autonomy is the opposite of that.
“That is why we reiterate that DAP’s very own political foundation will not allow for Sarawak to be autonomous. All this and more is now clear for the public to see,” he said.
Sim noted the recent resignation of DAP Sri Aman chief Leon Jimat Donald, due to his view that DAP is not the party for rural folks, is an action by its senior member who rightly stated the truth that the party is only active in urban and Chinese areas.
He said their sincerity had been called out by its senior member. His statement also stated that his party composition of committee leaves a lot to be desired as a single race dominates their top posts.
He also said this shows that DAP does not have a multi-racial approach in running their State committee.
“His acknowledgement that Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) is doing much better at fighting for Sarawak’s autonomy and rights is highly appreciated, especially from an ex-opposition politician.
“This shows his sincerity in calling a spade a spade, unlike so many of his ex-colleagues that relied on rhetorics and empty promises to gather votes,” he added.
Sim also pointed out that Leon’s other reason for his resignation was that Sarawak DAP, which is part of Pakatan Harapan (PH) Sarawak, “did not have real autonomy as seen during the PH administration”, basically stating that DAP is a Malayan party which can’t decide on Sarawak issues without their other Malayan partners in the PH coalition.
“With this public exposé by Leon, the public have further evidence of the true nature of DAP. Only Sarawakian parties will look after Sarawak’s interests first,” he said. — DayakDaily
