PKR insists diversity crucial in Sarawak shadow Cabinet
By Boo Su-Lyn, The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, May 7 — PKR disagrees with DAP’s Sarawak shadow Cabinet line-up as “one dominant race is dominating”, saying diversity is important to dispel such perceptions.
DAP won 12 seats to PKR’s three in the April 16 vote but differences over the line-up has marred Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) historic gains in the Barisan Nasional (BN) political fortress.
“Diversity must be a factor,” PKR communications director Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad (picture) told The Malaysian Insider while acknowledging that DAP had won more seats than his party.
“(The) shadow Cabinet in Sarawak must…show it’s inclusive, not dominated by one race,” he insisted.
The DAP-PKR tussle over posts in the Sarawak shadow Cabinet escalated into a full-fledged war with state DAP chief Wong Ho Leng accusing “someone in PKR’s political bureau” of being power-hungry.
The recently re-elected Bukit Assek assemblyman issued a hard-hitting statement yesterday, condemning PKR for refusing to grant autonomy to its state chapter when handling party affairs in Sarawak.
Wong also said PKR national leaders perceived their party’s allocations as “too junior”.
He insisted there had been “full consultation” between Pakatan Rakyat (PR) parties over the division of posts in the shadow Cabinet, and that Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian’s statement yesterday claiming otherwise, was baseless.
Nik Nazmi pointed out, however, that PAS was not present at the PR council meeting held last Sunday, after which the shadow Cabinet lineup was announced.
“How can such a big decision (be) made without a member of Pakatan Rakyat? Of course some of our leaders were there, but there was no agreement,” he said.
The PKR political bureau member stressed that PKR was not questioning DAP’s majority proportion of PR’s seats in Sarawak.
“We accepted that Wong Ho Leng should take role of opposition leader because they have more seats,” said Nik Nazmi.
“But when you form a shadow Cabinet…it is a matter of perception, especially when we don’t have enough Malay or Iban votes yet in Sarawak. This does not help,” he added.
PKR deputy president Azmin Ali told The Malaysian Insider that Dayaks should form the Sarawak shadow Cabinet majority as the community was the majority in the hornbill state.
