Media Statement
by Anthony Loke

(Miri, Sunday): DAPSY urges Sarawakians to teach the Barisan Nasional leaders a lesson not to treat the Sarawak state election like a “birthday party” by voting a strong DAP representation in the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly in the coming May 20^th poll. The Information Minister Datuk Zainuddin Maidin had called on the people of Sarawak yesterday to give the BN a clean sweep in the state election and hand State BN chief Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud a special gift for his 70^th birthday on May 21, a day after polling.

This statement by a Federal Minister is most disgusting and distasteful as he thinks the people of Sarawak owed a great deal to the caretaker Chief Minister and it is the obligation of the people to make him happy on his birthday occasion. Let us tell BN leaders that a general election is the time for political parties to seek the mandate from the people to form the government or sit in public offices through their various party programs and struggles. There is no obligation whatsoever by the people to repay the caretaker Chief Minister by voting the BN as “birthday gift”. There is no question of gratefulness for what he has done in the past as he was paid handsomely to do the job and he has reap huge benefits and privileges as the Chief Minister of Sarawak for the past 25 years. In fact, the state election should be the avenue for the people to penalize him and his party for the all the wrongdoings and scandals in the state.

The Barisan Nasional is unashamedly using the “”development trump card” in every election and there is no exception this round as they are going around to threaten the voters that any opposition-held constituency will see no development taking place. The people of Sarawak should not be swayed by this outdated tactic of the BN and not be fooled by the BN again. It is the responsibility of the government of the day to bring development to the state as they are given the mandate to manage the state resources and to make allocation for development. If they fail to do this job, they are not fit to be in the government! The parties in the opposition are equally capable of bringing development to the people if we are given the mandate to be the government.

The people should realize that any development project is not funded from the pockets of the BN leaders. All development funds came from the revenues of the natural resources and taxes from the people. The ruling party is given the mandate to manage the financial resources and to make allocations for the various development projects. However, the people of Sarawak should think upon why even after 43 years Sarawak joined the Federation of Malaysia, they are still talking about basic development projects like roads, water and electricity even though Sarawak is such a rich state blessed with tremendous natural resources.

Isn’t it due to mismanagement, cronyism, corruption and leakages of government resources in the hands of the selected few in the ruling parties at the expense of all Sarawakians? The people of Sarawak should put a halt to this unhealthy situation by voting a strong DAP representation in the state assembly. The Opposition plays a very important role as the “watchdog” for the people in the state assembly as they can scrutinize the government for every cent they spend and held them accountable for any mismanagement of public funds. If the state assembly is totally dominated by one party without any Opposition member, it is equivalent to the people signing a “blank cheque” to the BN so that they can do whatever they like without having to be answerable to the people. It is only with a strong DAP team in the Sarawak State Assembly can Sarawak see more holistic development as we will be the guardian of interest for the people and ensure all development funds goes straight to the benefits of the people without any leakages to the cronies and families of BN leaders.

DAPSY strongly calls upon the voters in the Pujut constituency in Miri to rally behind and cast your vote to our DAP candidate Fong Pau Teck in the coming May 20 election. The voters in Pujut will have nothing to lose but a lot to gain by voting a DAP candidate as their Assemblyman. Miri has already gained city status, therefore there is no question of no development if a DAP candidate wins. The current SUPP trios in Miri are over confident and they take your votes for granted as they think they can win easily without much fight. A win for the DAP candidate in Miri will see healthy political competition in the next 5 years. They will definitely have to work much harder to wrest back the seat in the next state election by pouring more development allocations in the DAP constituency.

For the interest of the constituency, for more development allocations in Miri, for a stronger check and balance in the State Assembly and for your own and your children’s sake, vote the DAP!

“ENOUGH IS ENOUGH”