BAU: Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) will give undivided support to the candidate nominated from fellow BN component Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) for the Tasik Biru seat in the next state election.
President Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Masing said this is because the seat traditionally belongs to SPDP and only SPDP has the right to nominate the BN candidate for the seat.
He explained this was in line with the BN spirit and principles which had ensured that BN remained strong and resilient over the years and should not be amended according to some people or party’s wish.
“Nobody from outside can come in (BN) without 100 per cent support from all the component parties. We are strong because we keep to the rules until today.
“If you are outside of BN we will fight you. There is no way to come to this place (Tasik Biru) if you are not a member of BN. This seat belongs to SPDP,” said Masing to loud applause at the closing of the 1Singai Tondong Festival on Sunday night.
Another rule which further strengthened BN, he said, was the undivided support of each component party towards each other and not practising ‘vulture politics’.
Masing shared an experience faced by the party in 2006 when an incumbent outside of BN decided to stand in a seat belonging to PRS. “What SPDP felt now we have felt it before, we have felt what it is like to be looked down and trodden upon,” he added.
Seeking the advice of the then chief minister (now TYT) Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, a simple solution was then given, he said.
“He (Taib) said, why not ask him to join you? So we approached the candidate who agreed to join PRS and the rest is history. He has since won and managed to retain the seat until today,” said Masing, without revealing the identity of that person.
Others present at the event were SPDP secretary general and Mas Gading MP Anthony Nogeh Gumbek, PRS secretary general Datuk Wilfred Nissom, the event organising chairman Dato Henry Harry Jinep and Sarawak Rivers Board controller William Jinep, one of the identified potential SPDP candidates for Tasik Biru.
Nogeh, in his speech, expressed optimism that Masing’s first-ever presence to officiate the 1Singai Tondong Festival was a sign of endorsement for SPDP to nominate its candidate for the seat.
Henry, who spoke earlier, also expressed hope that Masing’s first visit to 1Singai Tondong Festival would be a sign of better things to come.
Tasik Biru is now a hot seat to watch in the run-up to the state election expected by the first quarter of next year, with SPDP already declaring it will not give up the seat and are ready to replace the incumbent Datuk Peter Nansian Ngusie.
Nansian, also an assistant minister in the state cabinet, is the Tasik Biru assemblyman since 1996 and he won the seat on a BN-SPDP ticket in 2011, before he was sacked from the party a year and several months later for gross insubordination.
Meanwhile, Masing commented that the 1Singai Tondong Festival is another milestone for Henry to prepare a platform for young Bidayuh entrepreneurs to conduct and promote their business.
He noted the 1Singai Tondong commercial centre (opposite Tondong), which hosted the festival, was formally a cocoa farm that was turned into a thriving premier hub for the people to conduct their business.
“This place around here will change because of the commercial area and the nearby hotel that can provide a boost to this area’s business sector,” said Masing.
He reminded Henry to keep in mind the smaller businessmen by accommodating them and helping them to kick start and grow their business.
Henry himself believes the commercial centre and the festival will be the catalyst for more development and progress in Tondong bazaar area. He informed the audience that the company would soon develop a new commercial centre in Iban-majority area of Selangau.
The function also saw Nogeh in his capacity as Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry handing over 1Azam business aid to 17 recipients from Mas Gading parliamentary constituency.-Borneo Post
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