Anthony Nogeh
KUCHING: The advice by Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president Tan Sri James Masing to those aspiring to be Barisan Nasional (BN) candidates not to rely solely on the coalition’s symbol to win their elections has received positive feedback from voters and political leaders.
Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party ( SPDP) secretary general Anthony Nogeh lauded Masing for this timely reminder to those jostling to contest under the BN banner.
“This reliance on the ‘dacing’ (BN symbol) by candidates to pull through an in election especially in the rural areas has become an unhealthy political culture in the state,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Nogeh, who is also the MP for Mas Gading , said this was especially true in the case of incumbents who performed poorly but were re-nominated to defend their seats because of their senior positions in their parties.
“In the last state election there was one party president who just managed to pull through with a narrow margin of a few hundred votes against an independent candidate despite his ministerial position and the BN machinery supporting him.
“This reflected very badly on his performance as an elected representative and that without the BN symbol he would have been beaten badly.”
Nogeh added that Masing was spot-on when he said the real test of a candidate’s winnability was his ability to win without the advantage of the BN backing especially in the rural areas.
He pointed out this reliance on the BN symbol has led to parties outside the coalition trying to usurp the right of BN component parties to contest under the BN banner as in the case of the claim by Parti Tenaga Rakyat Sarawak (Teras) that their candidates should stand as BN candidates although the party is not a BN component party.
“Obviously Teras has no confidence that their candidates can win their seats without BN backing that is why they are so desperate to use the symbol.
“If their candidates are so winnable then they should use their own symbols to contest to prove their point.”
Nogeh also thanked Masing for his positive response to the proposed merger of SPDP and PRS as this would be a great step forward for the political stability of the state.
“We are glad that the details of the merger would be discussed at the next PRS supreme council meeting on Oct 17.
“We on our part have also set into motion the process to the eventual merger of our party with PRS.’
The SPDP secretary general added that in the meantime SPDP would work closely with PRS and other component parties in the next state election.