By Simon Peter
KUCHING, June 21, 2014: Leaders
of the three component parties of the State Barisan Nasional gathered at the
residence of Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president James Masing this evening at
the closing of the Gawai Dayak celebration.
In any circumstance, such
gathering would be simply looked upon as normal.
But not this one.
The gathering was obviously to
display their "political unity" amidst the growing political
influence of year old Parti Tenaga Rakyat Sarawak (Teras) due to the defection
of 11 elected representatives from Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) and
Sarawak Progressive Democratic Action Party (SPDP) as well as from the
Opposition Sarawak Workers Party (SWP) on May 6 this year.
Parti Teras, thus, becomes the
second strongest political force, after Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB),
in Sarawak. Therefore, the leaders of the three parties have every reason to
fear Parti Teras and to come up with political strategies so to remain
relevant.
In politics, number game is
very important and crucial for a political party. The more elected
representative a political party has, the stronger it will be.
Masing was at pain telling
reporters that the three parties - PRS, SUPP and SPDP - are not scared of Parti
Teras' political strength.
According to Masing, PBB
leaders were invited to attend the closing of the Gawai celebration at his
residence, but they were "committed elsewhere".
Therefore, their absence
should not be interpreted negatively.
Masing, who is also the Land
Development, repeatedly mentioned "honest and fair game" must prevail
within BN to maintain unity.
"All component parties
must show their sincerity to BN," he said.
He insisted that PRS, SUPP and
SPDP will "strongly object" to the admission of Parti Teras into the
BN grouping.
"Even one of us in the BN
opposes, Parti Teras will not be admitted as a component party of BN," he
stressed.
He said that there will be no
peace in BN if Parti Teras and another newly registered party, Party Peace,
were to be admitted.
"Naturally, there will be
no peace," he said.
It was rumoured that former
SUPP branch chief Wong Soon Koh, who is also Minister of Local Government and
Community Development, was said to have left Parti Teras to join Party Peace.
Wong, who left SUPP and joined
Parti Teras together with SPDP president William Mawan, has since denied
joining Party Peace.
When asked whether it will be
tough to solve the problems facing the BN now, Masing said it is, but "I
am sure that Chief Minister Adenan Satem will be able to solve it."
He agreed with SUPP president
Peter Chin Fah Kui and SPDP acting president Tiong King Sing that problems
within the state BN must be solved before the next state election.
He said unsolved problems will
affect BN chances in the election, benefitting only Pakatan Rakyat.
He said that the BN itself
does not have internal problems, but the problems crop up because two state
ministers and four assistant ministers have joined Parti Teras.
As such, he said, things become
complicated.
He said they remain as
ministers and assistant ministers because the chief minister want them to
continue holding onto their positions.
Masing does not believe that
PBB is secretly supporting Parti Teras.
He said PBB leaders are
sincere with the BN component parties and will not backstabbing their friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment