PBK wants GPS government to ban Malayan parties from contesting in Sarawak

 

By Henry Lee

KUCHING: Parti Bumi Kenyalang today urged the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government to amend the Sarawak Constitution to prohibit or to bar Malayan political parties from fielding candidates in the state and parliamentary elections in the state.

Its president Voon Lee Shan (picture) said the elections should be made a state affairs and no political parties from Malaya should interfere with Sarawak elections directly or indirectly.

“May a motion be passed in the coming sitting of the Sarawak Legislative Assembly to remind the people of Sarawak that it was not in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 to allow political parties from Malaya to enter and participate in the political affairs of Sarawak,” Voon said in a statement.

He said DAP was one of the earliest Malayan political parties to set foot in Sarawak which was brought in by a few former members of Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) in the 1970s.

He said other  political parties from Malaya including PKR, and PAS also entered Sarawak to contest seats in Sarawak.

Voon, a former DAP’s State Assemblyman for Batu Lintang, explained that when Malaysia was formed, it was never the intention of the Sarawakians to invite or to have political parties from Malaya to come and contest for state or parliament seats.

 It was agreed that seats for Sarawak in parliament are for Sarawak and never been meant to be contested or taken away by political parties from Malaya, adding that at the moment Sarawak is allocated with 31 seats while Sabah, 25 seats.

“If a seat is won by a political party like DAP or PKR, then this seat is taken away from Sarawak for a political party from Malaya. 

“This should not be accepted. The taking away of seats from Sarawak has diminished the bargaining power of Sarawak in parliament. 

“The voice of Sarawak was hardly heard because Malaya controls parliament,” Voon,  a senior lawyer, said, noting that at the moment Malayan political parties are also contesting state seats in Sarawak and this should be stopped now.