Opposition parties lack vision to take Sarawak forward, says Fadillah

 

PBB vice-president Fadillah Yusof says GPS has proven to be better at defending Sarawak’s rights. (Bernama pic)

KUCHING: Opposition parties in Sarawak do not have clear plans on how to help the state to progress, according to Fadillah Yusof, a senior vice-president of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB).

He said the opposition had “uncleared baggage” in having failed to deliver promises made in the previous general election.

“They promised so many things but when they were in power for 22 months (in Putrajaya), they were not able to fulfill their promises to the state. For example, they promised 50% of tax collected from the state will be returned to the state, as well as 20% of (oil) royalty.

-ADVERTISEMENT-

Ads by 

He contrasted the opposition coalition’s performance against that of Sarawak’s ruling Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), which comprises PBB and several minor parties.

“I think the people can see who is really delivering for the state, between GPS and the opposition, in particular Pakatan Harapan. GPS has proven itself,” he said in an interview with FMT.

Fadillah is seeking re-election in the Petra Jaya parliamentary seat in the general election.

He said GPS had clear objectives for Sarawak, boosting the state’s economy and finances while uplifting the social wellbeing of citizens.

He also described GPS as the defender of Sarawak’s rights and the Malaysia Agreement 1963, noting there were outstanding issues the coalition wanted to tackle.

“The last two years, (amid Covid-19) Sarawak spent about RM6.8 billion to help the people. This includes rental subsidies and fully bearing the quarantine costs for Sarawakians returning to the state.

“Now in the post-Covid-19 era, there is a clear strategy – we want to focus on clean energy. We are the biggest producers of hydropower. Now, we are looking into hydrogen, with countries like Korea, Japan and even Germany interested in working with us.”

Winning back Bidayuh voters

Fadillah said GPS and PBB in particular has been striving to win back Bidayuh voters since the 2018 polls, when the community’s support had swung to the opposition.

To him, the main reason the party had lost Bidayuh support then was because the community was not happy with its choice of candidates in certain areas.

“Our party boys are all on the ground to engage with the people to understand what the real issues are and why people are not supporting PBB,” he said, adding that the party’s chances of winning all the Bidayuh-majority seats were quite good this time.

The three Bidayuh-majority parliamentary seats are Serian, Puncak Borneo and Mas Gading, of which GPS had only won one when it was still in Barisan Nasional.

While it retained Serian, it had lost Puncak Borneo (previously known as Mambong) and Mas Gading to PKR and DAP, respectively. - FMT