‘BN stronger if PRS given more chance in fed cabinet’

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Martin John Madden

Robin C.L. Phang

KUCHING: Two PRS Youth exco members believe that better representation of the party in the federal cabinet will strengthen Barisan Nasional (BN) in Sarawak.

Martin John Madden and Robin CL Phang, in a joint statement here, said this will not only increase the people’s confidence in the ability of PRS to represent them at the federal level but will also surely ensure that more people will support the BN government.

As such, they share PRS president Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Masing’s disappointment that none of the five MPs from the party not holding any federal portfolio was included in the minor federal cabinet reshuffle announced on June 25.

Currently, PRS has only one full minister in Datuk Joseph Entulu, who is a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.

Martin, who is also PRS Youth education bureau chairman, said he supported Masing’s call for the federal government to give more recognition to PRS elected representatives.

“PRS has been a loyal member of the BN coalition and contributed significantly to BN’s victory in both state and federal elections.

“While we respect the Prime Minister’s decisions on the cabinet appointments, we also hope that PRS and Dayak MPs be given the opportunity to hold important positions in the cabinet so that we can strengthen the party and serve our community more effectively,” he said.

Robin, on the other hand, expressed his wish to see PRS better represented in the cabinet because the party had worked very hard in serving the people and garnering support for the government.

“Though we (PRS) may not be as big as some parties in the peninsula, PRS has consistently performed well in elections and served the people faithfully as part of the BN family.

“I hope the party’s contributions will be fairly recognised,” he said.

The June 25 cabinet reshuffle announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak saw the return of MCA and Gerakan into the cabinet to represent the peninsular Chinese.

MCA was allocated two full ministers and three deputy ministers while Gerakan was given one full minister’s post.