KUCHING: The Barisan Nasional (BN) outreach programme — BN direct membership — has prompted a state Dayak leader to call for caution because it may open the floodgates for BN rejects and dissidents.
Dato Sri Dr James Masing
Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president Dato Sri Dr James Masing said direct BN membership should not be a sanctuary for this group of individuals.
“Direct BN membership should not be a sanctuary for party dissidents or rejects of any BN component party.
“If BN accepts those characters it will create a destabilising precedence and open floodgates for unruly personalities to come in,” he said when contacted yesterday.
He warned: “BN is the most suitable brand but if we are not careful by admitting unscrupulous characters it will pollute the BN brand and render it unacceptable to Malaysians in general. We have to be very cautious when implementing the decision.”
When asked if it would be alright to make direct members election candidates, Masing believed they may only be fielded for new constituencies or those not allocated to any BN component.
This would be fair for all parties, he added.
“Direct BN candidates can be picked (from direct members group) if a constituency has not been allocated to any BN component otherwise it will contravene the understanding already made amongst BN component parties,” he said.
He even cited the state seat of Pelagus as an example.
The seat belongs to PRS but the incumbent (Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department Larry Sng) happened to have been sacked from PRS for insubordination.
“I give you an example, Pelagus. That seat has been allocated to PRS. Only PRS has the right to nominate candidates for Pelagus. That is right. Pelagus is non-negotiable,” said Masing who appeared to affirm his party’s interest in nominating a new face for the seat in the coming state election.
“This rule should be applicable to all BN components. The rule should be respected. Such understanding has made BN so strong all this while,” said Masing who is Land Development Minister and Baleh assemblyman.
When reminded of BN’s losses in several places and states in the 2008 general election, he said: “The 2008 general election was just a political hiccup or a wake-up call for BN to reassess itself.”
On Saturday, most newspapers reported that politicians and political analysts agreed with BN’s decision to approve ‘associate’ and ‘affiliate’ membership so as to make the coalition more inclusive.
The direct membership which the BN supreme council allowed would also serve as a new platform for youths to get a feel of politics.
However, the guidelines for it have yet to be announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who proposed it in February to complement his 1Malaysia concept.
The only notable condition spelt out was that only a member of a component party can be BN candidate in an election.
The only time BN allowed direct members to become candidates was during former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s time or in the 1990s.
The direct members in question were Datuk Billy Abit Joo in Hulu Rajang parliamentary constituency and Datuk Dr James Dawos Mamit of Mambong parliamentry constituency.
Abit is now a PRS vice president while Dawos a PBB supreme council member as well as Deputy Tourism Minister.