Masing-Entulu rift spills over in Selangau

300 Kakus PRS division members resign from party, citing loss of confidence in the leadership of Masing.

PRS president Dr James Masing says the exodus is no loss to the party as ‘we can do without disloyal members’ who worked for the opposition in GE14. (Facebook pic)

KUCHING: The open spat between Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president Dr James Masing and his former deputy, Joseph Entulu, seems to have spilled over in Selangau.

Two days ago, about 300 Kakus PRS division members announced that they were resigning from the party, citing loss of confidence in the leadership of Masing.

According to the division deputy chairman Kinseng Jelian, their decision to leave the party was because they were not satisfied with Masing’s action in the selection of party candidates during the recent 14th general election.

Kinseng said the Kakus PRS division wanted Masing to resign as party president and to take responsibility over the defeat of the BN candidate, represented by PRS.

Entulu, the former minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, was unceremoniously dropped by PRS as its candidate for Selangau in GE14.

He was replaced by lawyer Rita Insol, who eventually lost the seat to PKR’s Baru Bian.

Entulu has since signed up with PKR. The Kakus division members, who are all aligned with him, are expected to follow him into the party.

In an immediate reaction to the action of the Kakus division, Masing described it as not a surprise, claiming that they had sabotaged the party and had campaigned for the opposition in Selangau during GE14.

The PRS president said their exodus was no loss to the party as “we can do without disloyal members”.

PRS lost three of the six seats it contested in GE14. Besides Selangau, the party was also defeated by independent candidates in Julau and Lubok Antu.

The victors, Larry Sng in Julau and Jugah Murang in Lubok Antu, had also joined PKR.

PRS is now left with three parliamentary seats – Kanowit, Sri Aman and Hulu Rajang. -FMT