Are Sarawak DAP leaders getting arrogant?

“We are not in favour of politicians going for two seats. MoCS will even ask the people to reject such candidates – it doesn’t matter from which party or whether they are from BN or PR. These people usually give the ‘excuse’ that they are winnable candidates. To MoCS, they are just selfish, greedy politicians with an over-sized ego. They think that they are indispensable. This is unhealthy politics.

Buoyed by their historic and thumping victory in last year’s state election, are the DAP leaders in Sarawak getting cocky and arrogant?

“So far, I have received feedback about DAP’s arrogance in Sibu, not in Kuching or Miri,” Francis Paul Siah, leader of the Movement for Change, Sarawak stated here today.

He advised the DAP leaders concerned to put their feet firmly on the ground and to remember how and why the voters rejected their political opponent, SUPP, at the polls.

SUPP’s disastrous defeat was due to their leaders’ arrogance and cockiness and that they took the people for granted after their long tenure.

“Surely, DAP people should know how to behave and project themselves,” Siah cautioned.

The MoCS leader, who is on a two-day working visit to Sibu, also revealed that he has received complaints about the ‘below par’ performance of the DAP legislators who were elected in last year’s election.

“MoCS is disappointed with this negative feedback about the performance of some elected representatives. We request them to buck up,” Siah told a press conference at the Tanahmas Hotel.

He pointed out that MoCS supported many opposition candidates in the last state elections and if they did not perform, it was also the movement’s duty to tick them off.

“People’s expectations are now very high. It’s not easy being a YB. So if you feel that you cannot live up to the demands of the job, then do not vie for elective office.

“A simple example in Sibu is when a whole family lost everything after their house was razed to the ground. The YB in the area did not even turn up to help. In the end, it was a church group who helped them out.

“Surely, the family and neighbours would be unhappy if their elected rep did not even lift a finger to help,” Siah pointed out.

For the coming general election, he said that MoCS would not be supporting state assembly reps vying for parliamentary seats.

“We are not in favour of politicians going for two seats. MoCS will even ask the people to reject such candidates – it doesn’t matter from which party or whether they are from BN or PR.

“These people usually give the ‘excuse’ that they are winnable candidates. To MoCS, they are just selfish, greedy politicians with an over-sized ego. They think that they are indispensable. This is unhealthy politics.

“If the opposition want to know, already five people told me in a Sibu coffee shop this afternoon that they would return their vote to SUPP if the incumbent who is also a state assemblyman were to contest the parliamentary seat as well,” Siah said.

MoCS agreed with DAP chairman Karpal Singh’s call for a ‘one seat, one candidate’ rule in the party, Siah said, but stressed that the same should also apply for Sarawak because there are many qualified candidates available.

“If not, why are two opposition parties still squabbling over seats? So stop kidding yourself that you are the most winnable candidate and others are not. That’s only your big ego talking, not your head,” Siah added.

The MoCS leader also said that it would be healthy politics if the legislators from both DAP and SUPP in Sibu could earnestly work together for the betterment of the city and its inhabitants.

“From 1982 to 1995, Kuching residents benefitted because Kuching MP Sim Kwang Yang from the DAP and Song Swee Guan, Kuching Mayor and Padungan state assemblyman then were able to work closely together. That was exemplary. There is no need for political opponents to keep quarrelling with each other after an election,” he said.

‘Issues such as a university for Sibu, housing for urban poor and security problems could be resolved speedily if both sides could support each other. After all, politicians are there to serve all the people, even those who did not vote for them”, Siah said.

Present at the press conference were MoCS coordinators in Sibu, William Chian and William Ngo.