Datuk Sylvester Entri Muran
BELURU: A group of 33 community leaders in Marudi condemned SPDP and its supporters for smearing their reputation and that of their assemblyman Datuk Sylvester Entri Muran.
“We want SPDP to stop the allegations hurled at us that the reason that we are with our assemblyman and not with them is the fear of losing our monthly allowance — this is an insult to our intelligence and attack on our reputation,” they said.
These unhappy chiefs told The Borneo Post yesterday that such practice was unethical and against the spirit of Barisan Nasional (BN), as well as a slur against their integrity of supporting the government of the day.
They were met after the presentation of their re-appointment certificates from the state government by Marudi District officer Mackos Sibong and Beluru District officer Mataip Sayu at Marudi State Constituency Service Centre in Beluru yesterday.
They said SPDP rhetorics did not match the political reality on the ground, which was pro-Entri due to his contributions and track record.
They saw the attacks against the Marudi incumbent in their efforts to replace him with their own candidate was ‘an exercise in futility’.
The chiefs suggested that to avoid confusion, SPDP president and Bintulu MP Dato Seri Tiong King Sing should visit his own constituency more often than Marudi, where the constituents had been solidly behind Entri.
The longhouse leaders also chided SPDP for allegedly inflating attendance figures at functions in Marudi, claiming that outsiders were brought to boost turnout and as a result, create the perception of mass support.
“The air that fills the balloon are their supporters from outside Marudi; those who are not voters in Marudi. This is the fact and the truth.”
They believed that such tactics and resources in championing their representative to unseat Entri would be futile as such smear campaign would fail.
“Being grassroots community leaders from Beluru and Marudi, we stay, eat and sleep in our own longhouses; knowing intimately what Datuk Sylvester Entri has delivered to the people in Marudi.”
The group added that those denying this fact for reasons best known to themselves, could be providing the wrong feedback to SPDP for their own vested interest.
Entri, on the other hand, had a proven track record of serving the constituents with his frequent visits and delivery of the goods across the breath of this rural constituency.
They affirmed that he was fair and accommodating in distribution of development projects and funds to everyone, stressing: “Those who doubt this have only themselves to blame as they refuse to believed that he is still in BN.
“SPDP has undermined our integrity and spirit to support BN under the leadership of (Chief Minister) Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan, who is as the chairman of Sarawak BN,” they added.