Villagers warn: We’ll holdback support for BN if..

Village leaders in the Mas Gading constituency are wanting to know why SPDP is lying to the people by saying that their sacked elected reps are no longer in BN.

KUCHING: Several community leaders from the Mas Gading parliamentary constituency in Sarawak have allegedly threatened to withold their support for Barisan Nasional if the incumbent Dr Tiki Lafe is not retained.

Lafe, who won the seat on a BN ticket while in Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP), is currently in no-man’s land.

He along with four other elected representatives were sacked from SPDP last year following a protracted crisis with party president William Mawan. The other elected representatives were Peter Nansian (Tasik Biru) Sylvester Entri (Marudi), Rosey Yunus (Bekenu) and Paulus Gumbang (Batu Danau).

The five have since formed a controversial ‘Kelab BN Sarawak’ which although unregistered as yet, seems to have the backing of Sarawak’s Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud.

SPDP has refused to recognise the BN Club or its members and has pledged to field its own candidates in its two parliamentary seats in the coming general election.

SPDP has nominated Anthony Nogih, Deputy General Manager of Sarawak Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (Salcra) to contest the Mas Gading seat.

In a joint statement today, the unnamed community leaders pleaded with the top BN leadership to reject SPDP’s candidate (Nogih or anyone else) in Mas Gading in the coming election.

“This is because SPDP has been rejected in Mas Gading, and we, being very strong BN supporters, can also be rendered helpless to help BN retain the seat,” said the statement.

The statement also further urged the top BN leadership not to blame the community leaders as it was “the party (SPDP) that had got rid of the people in the first place.”

Sacked reps still under BN

They alleged that the real intention of SPDP in sacking Tiki and four other elected representatives was to get BN’s top leadership to also sack them from BN.

“SPDP should realise that these elected representatives effectively stood on BN tickets and were BN wakil rakyat and have remained that way until now.

“So how can BN be so trigger happy to shoot itself in the foot like SPDP?

“Furthermore, the BN wakil rakyat of Mas Gading is the incumbent and is still serving the government in various capacities and serving the rakyat very well,” they said.

The villager leaders further pointed out that Tiki still commands overwhelming support of the rakyat and is in command of BN machinery on the ground.

“But for SPDP to always claim that the elected representatives they sacked were not BN or half BN and partyless is rather ridiculous.

“The fact that these wakil rakyat are still full-fledged BN reps clearly show that SPDP is misleading and worst, lying to the people especially in Mas Gading by saying that these wakil rakyat are not in BN and partyless?

“Thus, we the rakyat and voters of Mas Gading have lost faith, hope and trust in SPDP.

“And if they still want to insist that BN select their nominee as candidates for the coming election they are just trying to get BN to lose the seat,” they said pointing out the poor voter turnout at SPDP’s various functions in the constituency over the last one year.

Desperate attempt

Responding to the statement, SPDP secretary general Nelson Balang said the threat from these “so-called community leaders is mischievous.”

“It is a sweeping statement made by a person hiding behind ‘who is the source’. The statement was not even signed and the ‘source’ did not produce the signatures of the community leaders who were said to have rejected Nogih.

“Even if the source produced the community leaders’ signatures, BN still has to probe if they are genuine and taken not out of force or duress,” Balang said.

“To me, they are phantom community leaders,” he said, adding that the real community leaders were a mature lot who supported BN and future BN elected representatives whoever they were.

Defending Nogih, Balang said that his campaign trails have been well received by the grassroots while the party has registered 1,000 new members from Mas Gading and more are coming.

“The statement by the ‘source’ was aimed at confusing the people on what BN really stands. It is still a system of parties and not individuals.

“The statement by the ‘source’ is a desperate attempt to help his principals to hold on to their power,” he said.

Meanwhile, SPDP Tasik Biru division chairman Michael Sitem warned that community leaders to refrain from entangling themselves in the in the selection of BN candidates.

“Being appointed by the government, they should support all candidates endorsed by BN otherwise their counter action will be considered as sabotage,” he said.

“Even if what the ‘source’ claims is true, community leaders are government servants and they are supposed to be impartial in the selection of candidates otherwise their action will be tantamount to be an act of sabotage,” Sitem warned.