Baru Bian (file photo)
KUCHING: State Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) chairman Baru Bian stressed that the leaders of Pakatan Harapan (PH) Sarawak are united in their objection to PBB or any component party of BN Sarawak joining PH.
He was referring to the reports in Malaysiakini and Malay Mail on May 11, which speculated that Sarawak BN parties may be mulling the possibility of joining Pakatan Harapan.
“In anticipation of this matter arising, I had, this afternoon (May 11), written to our party President, Dato’ Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and the Secretary of Pakatan Harapan Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah to put on record our strong position against the acceptance of any BN parties into Pakatan Harapan,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Baru pointed out that their national Pakatan Harapan leaders understand their position regarding PBB.
“They (PBB) are, in effect, the proxy of UMNO in Sarawak, and their leaders have been allowed to abuse their power to gain excessive wealth, depriving our people of what is rightfully theirs.
“They have condemned and ridiculed us for our strong stand on issues such as Native Customary Rights and human rights abuses, among other things, by the state government authorities and powerful government figures. Not only that, they have mocked and insulted us, singling out the chairman of Pakatan Harapan, and sneered at our manifesto. For them to now express a desire to join us smacks of hypocrisy and we are entitled to question their motives.
“To accept any of the Sarawak BN parties into Pakatan Harapan would be viewed as a betrayal of our people, who have been suppressed and oppressed by the BN government for so long. For us in Parti Keadilan Rakyat, a party that has ‘truth and justice’ as its raison d’etre, welcoming any BN party into Pakatan Harapan is simply unthinkable. As said by State DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen, it would be akin to accepting UMNO into Pakatan Harapan.
“If any such approach is made by PBB or any other Sarawak BN party, we expect that the national Pakatan Harapan leadership will consult with YB Chong, Saudara Fidzuan and me from the outset. Any decision made must be by consensus within the coalition at both national and state levels,” said the Selangau MP and Ba’Kelalan assemblyman.