MIRI, April 21 – An MCA leader’s call for Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud to step down immediately for losing the support of the Chinese in the recently-ended state election reveals a blatant ignorance of the political situation in the state.
Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) vice-president Sylvester Entri Muran said today that the remarks by the MCA vice-president, Senator Gan Ping Sieu, were ‘unbecoming’ since Taib had led the State Barisan Nasional to retain a two-thirds majority and form a government.
“MCA are using their sharpest spear to attack their own toughest shield. This is a clear-cut smear campaign by the MCA to undermine the stateleadership,” he said in a statement e-mailed to Bernama here today.
He said the loss of support of the Chinese voters in Sarawak in the recentstate election was not sufficient reason for Taib to step down as he had proved himself by leading Barisan Nasional to win 55 of the 71 seats in the election.
“The wishes of the voters in Sarawak ought to be respected, as the Chief Minister has a succession plan to ensure that Sarawak maintains its political stability and economic prosperity,” he added.
Entri, who retained the Marudi seat in the election, said that only the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) had fared badly in the election, losing in 13 of the 19 constituencies contested.
On the other hand, he said, other component parties, such as the Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) had won all the 35 seats it contested, whileParti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) won eight seats. The SPDP won in six constituencies, he added.
Rather than making such an uncalled-for statement, Gan should focus on revitalising the MCA so that it could become a good platform for the Chinese community in Barisan Nasional, he said.
He said there was still a lot of work for the MCA to do to gain the full support of the Chinese community in Peninsular Malaysia, and should, therefore, not waste time meddling in Sarawak politics.
“I suggest that the MCA should not toe the line of (the) opposition in order to be popular within the (Chinese) community. The party should just sit down and analyse what has happened so that it can prepare for the next general election,” he added.
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