KUCHING: Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) Baru will not contest in Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) constituencies in the next state election, in view of the possibility of Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) entering the fray, for the sake of Dayak unity.
Despite this stand, PBDS Baru deputy president Patrick Anek Uren reiterated the party was not creating any pact with PRS or any other Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties, as PBDS Baru was not interested in joining the ruling coalition.
As far as Dayak-majority seats are concern, the party felt it is imperative to avoid contesting in constituencies it anticipated would see an overcrowding of candidates especially if Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and Democratic Action Party (DAP) were to field their Dayak candidates against PRS candidates.
“We will only field candidates, if any, in other Dayak-majority constituencies as well as in the newly created 11 state seats,” he said in a statement on Thursday.
On another note, Anek mentioned that the party was surprised at the move of PBS to extend its wing to Sarawak with the state election looming.
Although it is their democratic right to do so, he felt the timing of the announcement was a cause to ponder.
“Nonetheless, it is hoped that PBS’ move, as it is a BN component, carries with it the intention to unite and not to further divide the people in Sarawak where there are too many political parties.
“It is also hoped that PBS coming to Sarawak will pre-passage a greater Sarawak-Sabah relationship and to strengthen the movement in the state in asking for greater benefits for Sabah and Sarawak as partners in the Malaysia Federation within the ambit of the Malaysia Agreement 1963. We shall wait and see their motive,” Anek continued.
One of the resolutions passed during the PBDS Baru’s supreme council meeting last Saturday was to form a ‘merger of minds’ with local opposition parties in order to avoid multi-cornered fights in the coming state election.
Party president Louis Jarau was reported as saying PBDS Baru had identified a few state seats and have shortlisted a few candidates to stand on the party’s ticket. The meeting also resolved for the party to stand alone and unaffiliated to either Barisan Nasional or the opposition.
PBS will soon spread its wing to the whole country after receiving the green light from the Registrar of Societies (ROS), as announced by Deputy Prime Minister cum Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi at party’s 30th annual delegates conference in Kota Kinabalu last weekend.