KUCHING: SPDP president Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing was only exercising his democratic right and standing up for the party in stating his disagreement with Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem’s statement saying that Datuk Sylvester Entri would be the most winnable candidate for Marudi.
SPDP vice-president Rayan Narong said this yesterday in rebutting Parti Tenaga Rakyat Sarawak (Teras) president Tan Sri William Mawan’s remarks on Tuesday, which called Tiong being ‘out of tune with political realities’.
“Our party president carries the trust of all SPDP members and we salute him for daring to stand up to speak on behalf of all of us.
“If Tan Sri Mawan were still our president, would he just keep quiet when our party interest was undermined; or would he stand up like Datuk Seri Tiong did and voice his opinion?”
Rayan pointed out that this is the political reality a party president must shoulder and in this respect, Tiong had proved his leadership quality through his bold statement.
“As a president of a BN (Barisan Nasional) component (party), Tiong is also duty-bound not only to safeguard his own party’s interest but also that of the coalition against the ‘wolves in sheep skins’ who claim to be BN-friendly but are actually disrupting its unity and harmony.”
Rayan was sure that Adenan and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak appreciated that Tiong was not a ‘yes-man’ but a loyal BN MP who dared to speak up.
Rayan recalled that during Mawan’s term as SPDP president, the party was under attack from the so-called BN Club comprising former leaders whom he sacked from SPDP.
However instead of defending SPDP against the very people who publicly declared that they had no confidence in him as their leader, Mawan shamelessly joined them to form Teras, he added.
“Obviously Teras is merely a marriage of convenience formed by people who were once political enemies.”
Rayan cautioned that it would be dangerous for BN to work with Teras as sooner or later, the old wounds its leaders inflicted upon each other would flare up again and create another crisis for the coalition to solve.
The SPDP vice president also pointed out that Mawan had no business meddling in BN’s affairs as Teras was not a BN component party.
“The chief minister and prime minister do need Mawan to protect them, or speak on their behalf.
“By doing that, it is Mawan who is ‘arm twisting’ BN to accept the BN Plus concept since three out of four state BN component parties have stated clearly that there is no place for Teras in BN.”
On Mawan’s claim that thousands turned up at every function where Entri was present, Rayan said if Entri was that popular why would he and Teras be so desperate to stand as BN candidate.
“A person with that kind of support does need any backing from any organisation to win in elections.
“Obviously Teras has no confidence that Entri is strong enough to win the election without BN’s help.
“The political reality on the ground is that Entri cannot win the election without BN’s endorsement; so he cannot be better than the candidate SPDP has chosen to stand in Marudi,” Rayan said.- Borneo Post
Post a Comment