Mawan, Paulus, Rosey accepted into PBB without qualms — PSB

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KUCHING: Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) believes the Chief Minister, Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg, in his wisdom as president of the Sarawak government’s backbone Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), will not depart from PBB’s tradition of not interfering with the disputes in other parties.

PSB secretariat in a statement yesterday evening said PBB has never sought to interfere with the internal affairs of other parties within its alliance, be it Barisan Nasional or Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS).

In light of Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) secretary general Datuk Janang Bunsu demanding the Chief Minister to sack PSB leaders from the Cabinet and cut off their rural transformation programme, political secretary and councillors allocations immediately for accepting Sri Aman MP Datuk Masir Kujat and several other leaders of PRS into its fold, PSB brought out the aftermath of the 2016 state election.

“Three assemblypersons or ADUNs from SPDP had defected from SPDP to Teras namely Tan Sri William Mawan, Paulus Gumbang and Rosey Yunus before the election and Tok Nan (former chief minister the late Pehin Sri Adenan Satem) had allowed them to stand as BN direct candidates. They won in the election but instead of returning to SPDP, they decided to join PBB. PBB accepted them and they brought the seats with them.

“No action was taken against Mawan, Paulus and Rosey for bringing the seats to PBB even though those seats are traditionally SPDP seats. There is hardly any difference from Datuk Masir Kujat leaving PRS to join PSB. If anyone demands punitive action against PSB as a result of the entry of Kujat, then surely the same punitive action must be demanded against PBB for accepting Mawan, Paulus and Rosey,” it said.

It also mentioned that likewise, after the 2016 state election, UPP’s BN direct candidates decided to return to UPP and, similarly, no action was taken against them.

“What the above shows is that PBB, as the big brother in the coalition, has never sought to interfere in the disputes of other parties in the coalition. PBB has remained impartial as it should be.

“Since 2014, when UPP was formed, it has always remained BN friendly and is now GPS friendly when re-branded as PSB. Its leaders have always remained in the Cabinet under Tok Nan and now under Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari. There is no reason to change the status quo upon the demand of a party that had created the problems in the first place.

“The Chief Minister was there with UPP when it was formed and was there to declare open its first TDC. The Chief Minister was there when UPP re-branded itself to PSB at its Extraordinary Delegates’ Conference. PSB and its leaders have pledged their fullest support and loyalty to the Chief Minister to lead Sarawak.

“The Chief Minister is the president of PBB. In keeping with tradition, PBB should not interfere with the disputes in other parties, leaving it to them to resolve those issues themselves. We believe that the Chief Minister, in his wisdom, will not depart from this tradition,” it said.

“From the ashes of SNAP and PBDS were born Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP). In the midst of the break-up and upheaval in those parties, PBB never sought to intervene. When there was internal turmoil in PRS in the dispute between (Tan Sri Dr) James Masing and Larry Sng, the then PBB president kept Larry as an assistant minister in his Cabinet, in keeping with the established tradition of not interfering with the internal affairs of other parties.

“When Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) broke up into two factions which led to the birth of United People’s Party (UPP), Datuk Patinggi Adenan Satem or Tok Nan (the then PBB president) retained UPP leaders in his Cabinet as BN friendly parties,” noted the statement.

PRS secretary general Datuk Janang Bunsu has demanded the Chief Minister to sack PSB leaders from the Cabinet and cut off their Rural Transformation Programmes, political secretary and councillors allocations immediately.

PSB secretariat pointed out that former Selangau MP Datuk Joseph Entulu and former Lubok Antu MP Datuk William Nyallau (with their supporters) were sacked from PRS on the eve of nomination day of the last Parliamentary election.

“If PRS considered that they were nobodies and unworthy of being nominated for election, then PRS cannot be upset that PSB opened its doors to Entulu and Nyallau and their supporters.

“As for Datuk Masir Kujat, we believe the leaders in PRS are fully aware why he elected to leave PRS,” it said.

PSB secretariat also pointed out that Abang Johari, who was then PBB deputy president and deputy chief minister, attended the 1st Triennial Delegates Conference of UPP as the guest of honour few years ago.

Around that time also, SPDP was also split with most of its leaders joining Parti Tenaga Rakyat Sarawak (Teras), and yet Tok Nan retained those leaders in his Cabinet and government.

In the 2016 Sarawak state election, when SUPP and PDB strongly demanded the return of all their so-called traditional seats, Tok Nan decided to field ‘direct BN candidates’ from UPP and Teras and history will show that he won in a massive landslide victory, the PSB secretariat added.