By Adrian Lim
KUCHING, May 25: Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) Youth Chief Michael Tiang has reminded Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen to mind his own business before alleging Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) of playing two-faced politics.
Tiang in a statement said DAP was the political party which brought Malayan-based political party such as Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) into Sarawak in 2001 when both parties decided to cooperate under a coalition called Barisan Alternatif.
Tiang said Chong had tried to twist facts about what GPS did and use it to gain political mileage.
“Before DAP Sarawak could accuse GPS of working along side with Perikatan Nasional (PN) which includes PAS, I would like to remind Chong and his colleagues from DAP Sarawak that it was DAP Sarawak that first brought PAS into Sarawak’s political landscape in 2001 when they were together under the same political coalition called Barisan Alternatif.
“And this was not the only time DAP Sarawak “opened up” the gate to let PAS into Sarawak, they went into further cooperation when DAP formed Pakatan Rakyat with PAS again in 2008.
“Since then, DAP brought in more Malayan parties like Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Parti Amanah and later Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) into Sarawak that aimed to disrupt Sarawak politics which was only meant for Sarawak local parties since the formation of Malaysia,” he said in a statement.
Hence, Tiang believed Chong’s recent statement of GPS playing two-faced politics did not reflect his political maturity.
Tiang asserted that GPS partnered with PN to form the present government in order to create political stability as well as to lead the nation in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.
On another note, Tiang observed that DAP Sarawak did not keep their promises of giving Sarawak 20 per cent oil royalty, RM2,000 cash subsidies and 50 per cent of taxes collected from Sarawak to be returned to the Sarawak government after the last general election.
Thus, he questioned what DAP Sarawak has done for Sarawak in the span of 22 months time after they were given the mandate to rule as the federal government.
During the fight against Covid-19 in Sarawak, Tiang also observed that DAP Sarawak was busy politicking instead of disseminating information about Sarawak government’s efforts to provide food aid to the needy.
He also gathered that Chong complained about the requirement by State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) for returning Sarawakians to obtain police permit which are safety and precaution measures to monitor and curb Covid-19 in Sarawak.
“I would like to remind Chong that he should not forget that two DAP MPs from Sarawak contacted the virus last March while traveling back from Semenanjung.
“Shouldn’t he have learned the lesson that anyone including Sarawakians who travel from Semenanjung back to Sarawak are exposing themselves to the great risks of being infected with the virus?
“During the fight against the pandemic, shouldn’t it be right to say that the safety of 3 million Sarawakians in Sarawak outweighs any individual’s rights and convenience to enter Sarawak?
“Is DAP Sarawak suggesting that Sarawak should now relax all the entry restrictions while we are cautiously preparing ourselves to fight the second wave of this pandemic?,” Tiang questioned.-DayakDaily
