Baru slams Rundie, Annuar for forgetting their oath they took as lawmakers

KUCHNG, Jan 7, 2015: Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian has slammed State Barisan Nasional secretary general Stephen Rundie and Nangka state lawmaker Annuar Rapaee for forgetting their oath they sworn to undertake by not fighting for the whole of Sarawakians.

"Perhaps they took a different oath, in which case I should be most grateful to have the privilege of their disclosure," he said when responding to criticisms directed at him by Rundie and Annuar yesterday.

Did Rundie, Annuar take a different oath? asked Baru

"I would invite them to get over their shock and recall the oath taken by state lawmakers to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the State of Sarawak and the Federal Constitution.

"Our Constitution sets out and guarantees the rights of all Malaysians and I am ever mindful that we are entrusted to speak up for all citizens of Malaysia irrespective of race, religion, origin or whether they are of the urban or rural populace.

"Nowhere in that oath did I swear to focus on the rights of the people of Ba’ Kelalan to the exclusion of the rights of all other Malaysian citizens," Baru, who is also the Ba'Kelalan state lawmaker, said.

He said his statement on Monday was clear and that he welcomed the creation of new seats in the rural areas where it is warranted but at the same time, justice must be served in the urban areas.

"Gerrymandering and malapportionment are devices used by the BN government to manipulate the electoral system in their favour and we must fight for the rights of all Malaysians to fair representation and a government of their choice.

"Our electoral system must move closer towards parliamentary democracy and the ‘one person one vote’ ideal with each seat delineation exercise, instead of regressing or remaining stagnant.

"I stand by what I said about the urban seats having around 30,000 voters: the value of each vote is far lesser than each rural vote, and the Elections Commission chairman has not deigned to address his mind towards correcting this glaring malapportionment that is shouting out for some attention.

"In fact, with this proposed delineation, in the parliamentary seat of Bandar Kuching, the value of each vote will be further diluted with the switch of Batu Lintang into that constituency.

"The statements by Rundie and Annuar only serve to show that the BN politicians’ way of thinking and their brand of politics is to divide the people according to race in their bid to hold on to power.

"This is what is wrong with Malaysia today, polarization and the politics of fear and distrust.

"We need to move away from racial and communal politics if we are to truly progress as a nation.

"In modern Malaysia I do not expect the new breed of people’s representatives to be so parochial and to care only about their individual constituencies. 

"The rakyat are more well-informed than ever about their rights and the abuses of the system by those in power. Change will come, sooner or later," Baru said. 

Rundie yesterday claimed that Baru,  not supporting the delimitation exercise, was not sincere to his constituents in Ba Kelalan.

He was responding to a move by opposition lawmakers to file a judicial review to stop the delineation exercise on grounds that information published by the Election Commission (EC) was insufficient. 

Meanwhile,  Annuar  asked Baru for questionimh why there were no new seats proposed for Pending, Bukit Assek, Dudong and Pelawan which had about 30,000 voters each.

According to Annuar, the proposed delineation was not only looking at the number of voters per se, but more importantly, ensure more development (in rural areas) and also looking at the voice of minority.

He reckoned that if no seats were created for the minority groups, especially the Orang Ulu, their voices would not be heard clearly and loudly in the State Legislative Assembly.

“That is why I am surprised that Baru Bian is fighting for more seats in the urban rather than rural.

“The way I see it, he should be fighting for more seats in the rural,” Annuar was quoted as saying in the local press.