MIRI: Four Parti Tenaga Rakyat Sarawak (Teras) grassroots leaders yesterday blasted SPDP president Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing for disagreeing with the chief minister’s stand on Marudi assemblyman Datuk Sylvester Entri.
The four, who are longhouse chieftains, said Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem was spot on when he said during a Hari Raya gathering in Marudi on Friday that Sylvester was the most winnable candidate for Marudi in the 11th state election, which must be called by June next year.
The four are Nabor Teras Branch chairman Joshua Dungkong, Berauh Barau, (chairman of Teras Sg Entulang unit, Juna Kanda ( chairman of Teras Sg. Nakat unit) and Engkas Enteri (chairman of Teras Sg. Mallang Sanin unit).
In a press statement yesterday, the four opined that Tiong was ignorant of the realities in Marudi.
“We, on the ground, know better. The chief minister is absolutely right in his wise, objective and unbiased reading of the political reality in Marudi,” they said.
“We, from the grassroots, totally agree with the chief minister that the only prospective candidate to defend Marudi for the BN should be Datuk Sylvester Entri.”
They said they believed Adenan gave his opinion after giving the matter deep thought and not in haste or under pressure.
“We will not let the chief minister down. We will give him undivided support to enable him to lead the state for another five years.”
The four argued that Entri was always on the ground with the people in his constituency, and his leadership was still needed to bring in more development.
Joshua rubbished Tiong’s boast that a senior officer in the public sector was the most winnable candidate for the BN in Marudi.
“We are not blind, and we also do not know whom he was talking about. We have never seen this senior officer around,” he said, adding that Sylvester, on the other hand, had a good track record since becoming Marudi elected representative in 1996.
The group of four also said Tiong was wrong to state that Marudi belonged to SPDP.
“The seat belonged to the BN, and the chief minister, as chairman of the state BN, had the prerogative to determine the most winnable candidate.”
Joshua claimed there were only a handful of SPDP members left in Marudi as most former SPDP members were now with Sylvester.-Borneo Post
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