KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 — Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) is confident that Chief Minister Datuk Abang Johari Openg will not accede to Parti Rakyat Sarawak’s (PRS) demand for action to be taken against the party after it accepted PRS ex-vice president Datuk Masir Kujat as a member.
The PSB secretariat said in a statement that it believed Johari, who heads the ruling state coalition Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) and is president of Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu Sarawak (PBB), will maintain the non-interference policy of his predecessors.
It pointed out that PBB had never interfered in the crises affecting the parties in the state, citing as example the former chief minister the late Tan Sri Adenan Satem’s decision to retain Barisan Nasional leaders who had left the Sarawak United People’s Party to form PSB.
Similarly, it said when leadership tussles led to splits within the Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party and the now defunct Sarawak National Party and Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak, the past PBB chief had remained impartial.
“In keeping with tradition, PBB should not interfere with the disputes in other parties, leaving it to them to resolve those issues themselves. We believe that the chief minister, in his wisdom, will not depart from this tradition,” PSB said.
The party also indicated that it gave its full support to Johari, adding that the chief minister had opened United People’s Party’s first triennial delegates conference and officiated at its rebranding as PSB earlier this year.
PSB earlier today accepted Masir, who is Sri Aman MP, two former PRS parliamentarians and several grassroots leaders into the party.
It issued the statement after PRS secretary-general Datuk Janang Bungsu, in an interview with Dayak Daily, demanded that PSB’s leaders be stripped of state posts and funding.
He also said PRS will oppose PSB’s aim to join GPS.
“GPS must act fast. Action must be taken against PSB’s bosses. Cut off their funding, ministerial positions, pol secs (political secretaries to the chief minister) and councillors,” he told the Sarawak-based news portal.
“We have been very accommodating to them. With this latest move by PSB, there is no way we will support its entry into GPS.”
