Chong Chieng Jen
KUCHING: Gabungan Parti Sarawak’s (GPS) support for the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition is a threat to the secularism of the Federal Constitution and Sarawak’s social structure, says Sarawak Democratic Action Party (DAP) chief Chong Chieng Jen.
In a statement today, he said that it was “naive and ridiculous” for GPS to think that the Umno and PAS-led federal government would do any good for Sarawak.
“No amount of allocations, even if there are any additional allocations, can compensate for the destruction that such a combination would do to the fundamental social structure and system of the country.
“What GPS has done now by supporting the Umno PAS government is not only putting the corrupt regime back in power but at the same time GPS is putting the religious bigots in PAS in power, which is definitely a threat to the secularism of our Federal Constitution and Sarawak’s social structure,” Chong criticised.
He opined that there was no way that GPS could shield Sarawak from the policies and laws that would be implemented by the federal government.
“For example, our children’s education, the healthcare system, financial system, business ecosystem. All of these are part and parcel of our everyday lives and they will be subjected to input from PAS ministers and their ideology in the cabinet.
“In 1976, GPS under the previous Barisan Nasional coalition had compromised Sarawak’s rights in terms of our natural oil and gas resources. This time, they have done an even greater injustice to Sarawakians by putting PAS in the federal government, thus undermining Sarawak’s multi-racial and multi-religious social structure,” he lamented.
Chong also pointed out that the scandalous corrupt practices of Umno could be epitomised in the 1MDB case, the infamous ‘RM2 million is just pocket money to me’ statement by former Umno treasurer Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor in the High Court on Mar 5 and the most recent discharge of film producer Riza Shahriz Abdul Aziz (Najib’s step-son) not amounting to acquittal (DNAA) for money-laundering charges linked to 1MDB.