SIBU: State Barisan Nasional (BN) parties are locally incorporated and their policies are formulated to protect Sarawakians’ rights, which do not fit in with peninsula-based DAP.
According to several state BN leaders, BN’s priority is to serve the people and the coalition does not trust DAP, regardless of the opposition’s agendas.
They were responding to state DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen’s statement that his party would never join BN.
Dismissing such a prospect as ‘impossible’, Chong advised against listening to rumours that DAP would join BN.
PBB supreme council member Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, for one, said being a Penisular Malaysian-based party, DAP’s actions were determined by in Kuala Lumpur bosses.
“Sarawak BN parties are all Sarawak based and all policies are tuned to make sure that Sarawak’s rights are fully protected.
“Sarawak DAP is just ‘nodding’ what their KL bosses are asking them to do,” Abdul Karim, who is Assistant Minister of Youth Development and Asajaya assemblyman, told The Borneo Post yesterday.
Chong also asserted that the opposition would continue to ‘stir things up’ to ensure that the people of Sarawak get what is rightfully theirs.
He demanded that BN address issues affecting Sarawakians, which he claimed had been left ‘hanging’ such as the request for 20 per cent oil and gas royalty as well as lower electricity tariffs for the state.
Chong was speaking to reporters in conjunction with DAP’s Chinese New Year open house at its Stampin branch on Saturday.
To this, Abdul Karim said: “It’s interesting to note that YB Chong would continue to ‘stir things up’…I am unsure what is there to be ‘stirred up’.
“I am sure Sarawakian public can see that the BN state government has been steadfast in preserving state’s rights, environment, integrity, rights of minority, good governance, Chinese education, rights of the rural folk, especially on land and their culture.”
He pointed out ‘stirring things up’ was more like creating havoc.
“If we have a good state government that is already looking after the interest of all its citizens, do we need an alternative to ‘stir things up’?” he asked, throwing back the question to Chong.
State BN secretary-general Datuk Dr Stephen Rundi observed that DAP was not getting along well with Pakatan Rakyat (PR).
“Well, you know in politics there are no permanent friends and no permanent foes either.
“Having said that, we are here to serve the ‘rakyat’ irrespective of what DAP’s agendas are, they are not doing well in PR and don’t expect us to trust them either,” Dr Rundi, who is also Assistant Minister of Public Utilities (Electricity and Telecommunications), said.
Meanwhile, Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Office (Islamic Affairs) Datuk Daud Abdul Rahman noted there was never any invitation extended to DAP to join the ruling coalition.
“We never invited them to join BN and therefore, this is a non-issue to us.
“It is up to them what they want to do and say. The ‘rakyat’ will have the final say,” Daud said.