KUCHING: Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) has left it to the Barisan Nasional (BN) top leadership to decide on the “reward” for the party in appreciation of the Dayak voters’ solid support for the ruling coalition.
Its president Datuk Seri Dr James Masing said PRS’ success by winning eight of the nine seats it contested in the state election on April 16 had made it the BN component party with the second biggest number of seats in the state assembly after Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB).
“PRS had done its best, winning eight of the nine seats it contested. The state and national BN leadership should consider rewarding the party for this achievement,” he said last night after a function to celebrate PRS’ triumph in the recent state election.
In that election, PRS lost only the Pelagus seat.
Masing said he was worried that if the loyal Dayak supporters were not given something, PRS would be facing problems in the next parliamentary and state elections.
He said the strong support of the Dayaks who mostly lived in the rural areas helped to secure the two-thirds majority victory in the recent state election.
On the plan to merge PRS with the Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP), Masing said it was not much of a problem for PRS but the SPDP needed to solve its internal problems first.
“The proposed merger should be done before the next general election,” he said, adding that a committee had already been formed to look into this. – Bernama