KUCHING: The nine partyless elected representatives will eventually be accepted by Parti Pesaka Bumiputera (PBB).
Pakan assemblyman Tan Sri William Mawan believes it is just a matter of formality for them to go back to their voters to seek their views as advised by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem.
According to him, this was a process to satisfy everybody in order to be fair to the constituents who ‘by and large are part of the whole system’.
“Before we make our move, we have to make sure that everything is there. You can’t just slip away. So to satisfy other parties, we do these things probably as a matter of formality,” he told reporters at the lobby of the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) Complex yesterday when asked to comment on Adenan’s recent directive after chairing PBB supreme council meeting on Sunday.
Mawan was earlier sworn in as Pakan assemblyman alongside 81 other elected representatives in a ceremony led by Adenan. Overseeing the swearing-in ceremony was the Speaker Datuk Amar Mohd Asfia Awang Nassar.
Asked what his next course of action would be should PBB decide not to accept him, Mawan replied confidently that he would be with the state’s BN backbone party.
“The chief minister has said so himself that if I insist (on joining PBB), I will be accepted.”
On whether he was waiting to be appointed a federal minister, the former social development minister left his fate on the matter in God’s hands.
But he was coy when pressed if indeed rumours were true that a federal government position has been set aside for him.
“Well, I thought I heard something about it but whether a federal post has been confirmed for me, I did not say that.”
He however said he was feeling ‘quite positive’ about it when asked by reporters if he was looking forward to starting a new political journey under the federal government.
“Well, I don’t have a job now. But I’m quite positive about it,” he said.
On another matter, Mawan said SPDP president Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing’s statement that his party must keep the seats allocated to it regardless of which party the three partyless elected incumbents joined, was simply his stand as the party’s president.
“However, that is certainly away from the reality of things from what I can see. I am the former party president but if you feel like that, okay…,” he said.
On the other hand, SUPP president Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian insists that seats allocated to the party should not be given to other parties.
He also said under the understanding and spirit of Barisan Naisional (BN), a component party could not have half of the seats in the State Legislative Assembly.
“I have said this before and it remains the same. Under the BN understanding, seats that are allocated to SUPP are the existing 19 seats plus one new seat should remain.
“The understanding was reached at between SUPP and the state BN chairman and national BN chairman before the just concluded state election that all seats contested belong to BN component parties,” he said
Dr Sim was asked to comment on Adenan’s blessing for UPP to continue as a BN-friendly party, after the swearing-in ceremony of the elected representatives yesterday.
Dr Sim, who is Minister of Local Government, said if the understanding was breached then the spirit of power-sharing among BN component parties would no longer be meaningful.
“I want to add, for the 11 new seats, the chief minister has stated openly that every component party has been promised two seats.
“SUPP has been given Batu Kitang and we demand one more,” he said, adding if a BN component party had more than half of BN seats, the party might as well be deemed as Barisan Sarawak.
He also stressed that in this matter SUPP was not claiming seats won by UPP because the seats rightfully belonged to SUPP.
The seats in question are Opar, Mambong, Engkilili, Dudong and Bawang Assan. In the recent state election, direct BN candidates were fielded in seven out of 20 seats allocated to SUPP after SUPP and UPP couldn’t reach a consensus on candidacy.
“If the other parties are to accept them, the seats will still belong to us as I have said before and I don’t know how clear I can stress it unless someone breaks the promise.
“I have said many times that SUPP’s door is open to those state assemblymen to return and it includes one of the direct BN candidates because there is still one seat that should go to SUPP,” he said, adding that he had limitation on what he could offer as the party had a constitution to abide with.