Monday 1 August 2011

PPP claims entry into state wish of many Sarawakians

People’s Progressive Party of Malaysia (PPP) yesterday issued a statement to emphasise that the party’s entry into the state was the wish of many Sarawakians.

According to the statement issued by former state chairman Zamiran Ujang, information chief Roy Mani and vice chairman Charles Liew, PPP Sarawak was formed by 500 friends in 2007 who wanted a multi-racial political party.

“We would like to emphasise that it is the Sarawakians who requested PPP to form branches in Sarawak and it was never the intention of the national party leadership to spread its wings here,” they stated.

They statement also claimed the party’s entry was also due to the fact that most political parties in Malaysia were race-based.

“We founded PPP in March 2007. We heard that a lot of Sarawakians are members of PPP in Johor,” they said.

In the statement which also explained the party’s history in the state, the trio added that they met party president Datuk M Kayveas to discuss the possibility of them joining the party and at the same time form branches and recruit members in Sarawak.

“It took us almost 10 months before the approachable and understanding party president agreed to our proposal. Datuk M Kayveas has also written to Barisan Nasional (BN) state chairman Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud several times seeking permission for the party to come to Sarawak,” they claimed.

They added that since there was no response from Taib, they proceeded with the party’s formation in Kuching in 2008.

“We formed a protem committee under the chairmanship of Zamiran. After the launching, there were a lot of objections from political leaders in Sarawak. It took us almost 20 months to form the first branch,” they said, adding that the beginning was tough as many could not understand their intention to help BN and contribute towards BN’s success.

According to them, it was after June 2009 that the party began to grow and spread its wings to Kuching, Bau, Serian, Sri Aman, Sibu, Meradong, Mukah, Pakan, Bintulu, Kanowit, Kapit and Selangau after Sarawakians who were PPP members in Johor returned to the state.

In his visit to the state last month (July), Kayveas stated that PPP would contest as independents in the state during the coming general election if state BN continued to reject them.

He declared that the party would be targeting seats traditionally won by the opposition and those which BN found difficult to win.

When asked to comment on the issue at a function on July 27, Taib said he was okay with PPP’s entry into the state because Malaysia was a free country.

“It’s okay…what can we do? It’s a free country…up to the people to choose,” he said when asked whether PPP’s entry would encourage other peninsula-based parties to enter the state.

Meanwhile, party leaders such as state BN secretary-general Datuk Dr Stephen Rundi Itom spoke against PPP’s entry into the state.

Dr Rundi said the presence of the party here would not help BN because it did not even do well in Semenanjung.

Chief political secretary to the chief minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah commented that PPP would just be an ‘excess baggage’ if it proceeded with its intention to establish itself and put up election candidates in Sarawak,

During PPP’s recruitment drive at Kota Sentosa wet market in late July, it was reported that an angry man threw a plastic bag said to be filled with human faeces at one of PPP’s national leaders.

“The man walked towards him and threw the plastic bag before making a quick dash,” said a party member who witnessed the incident.

The leader was identified not to be Kayveas who was officiating at a function in that area.

No comments:

Post a Comment