See Chee How
KUCHING: It is unlikely for Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Pribumi) to go far in Sabah where Umno operates – let alone Sarawak.
Batu Lintang assemblyman and state PKR vice-chairman See Chee How opined that the new peninsula-based political party was going all out to challenge Umno and its president, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
“To me, Pribumi is basically made up of Umno. You look at (former deputy prime minister Tan Sri) Muhyiddin (Yassin), (former prime minister Tun Dr) Mahathir (Mohamad) and all those guys – they are basically going against Umno.
“Even (former federal minister and Umno man Datuk Seri Mohd) Shafie Apdal is not talking about joining Pribumi – how far can they (Pribumi) go in Sarawak and Sabah?” he said when asked about Pribumi yesterday.
According to See, Pribumi seems to be only for the Malay community.
Still, he believed that it might succeed in claiming 10 to 20 seats in the next 14th general election (GE).
“At least for PRU14 (GE 14), their (Pribumi) main thing is trying to make Datuk Seri Najib lose power. They might succeed to a certain extent, but I do not see Pribumi going anywhere too far.
“(Former Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri) Mukhriz (Mahathir) recently went back to Kedah, where his appearance attracted a crowd of 50,000 people.
“This is significant – (the indication of) what the party can do. For it to have any deep impact, however – no, I don’t think so.”
In Sarawak, he said Pribumi would be able to attract ‘those who are mainly quite disgruntled, who are thinking that they are looking at an alternative’.
For See, it would be prudent to say that Pribumi would not make much impact in Sarawak, since Umno ‘is not in Sarawak’.
Still, he said the new party could ‘shake’ some Umno strongholds in the peninsula, aided by leaders like Muhyiddin and Mukhriz.
He hoped that Pribumi and the partners under opposition pact Pakatan Harapan could be united, so that they had a real chance of changing the political landscape in Malaysia.
Pribumi was established following the sacking of Muhyiddin from Umno.
On this, state DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen was quoted as having said on Thursday that he predicted Pribumi ‘to be a force to be reckoned with when it comes to a change of government’.