Sarawak BN allies on warpath

ARCHIVES 2012

By admin-s On May 1, 2012

(FMT) – A SPDP assemblyman’s open support for former Julau MP Sng Chee Hua means 10 parliamentary seats are now at stake for BN.

KUCHING: Barisan Nasional coalition partners – Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) and Party Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) – are at war, not only in Julau but probably in all 10 parliamentary seats which they collectively hold.

The agent provocateur is the new Sarawak Workers Party (SWP) and SPDP’s Meluan assemblyman Wong Judat’s open support of the newcomer.

Judat’s recent harsh criticisms of Julau incumbent, Joseph Salang, has fuelled further simmering resentments between SPDP and PRS.

Both parties have collectively 10 parliamentary seats in the state. SPDP has four (Mas Gading, Saratok, Baram and Bintulu), while PRS has six (Julau, Hulu Rajang, Lubok Antu, Sri Aman, Selangau and Kanowit).

Salang’s ardent supporter and former PRS supreme council member Joseph Allen said there was nothing PRS could do if Judat is prepared to challenge Salang in the coming general election.

Salang, who is PRS vice-president and Deputy Information, Communications and Heritage Minister, has been nominated by his party to defend the Julau seat.

“It all depends on William Mawan [SPDP president] if he is supporting Judat or not. But if it is fight they are asking for, then we will fight them.

“The fight will not only begin and end in Julau; we will also fight them in constituencies which are contested by SPDP,” Allen said.

He was commenting on a statement by Judat last Saturday at a function organised by Sng Chee Hua and SWP leaders at Rumah Budol, Nanga Entabai, Julau.

Sng’s dirty tactics

Judat, who was the guest-of-honour, delivered a fiery speech telling the SWP leaders and the people that he would support any candidate put up by the party against Salang.

Judat’s conditional support is that SWP must choose a “quality” candidate to be able to defeat Salang, whom he described as a “leech” who took away RM3 million for a road project at Nanga Entabai and used it for another road project at Rantau Limau, Meluan.

He also accused Salang of being an “outsider” who should be removed from Julau. Salang comes from a longhouse in Bintangor, but his grandparents came from Julau.

On the 2,000 people – including 150 tuai rumah (longhouse chiefs) – who attended the SWP function, Allen said that Sng was noted to use money to attract people to come to his functions.