KUCHING: Sarawak’s position in the Malaysian federation should be reviewed from the historical aspect, says Minister of Land Development Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Masing.
He said unless the issue was addressed urgently, the BN might have to fight an uphill battle in the next state election scheduled in 2016 and the parliamentary elections scheduled in 2018.
“Is Sarawak one of the 14 states or one of the four regions which signed the Malaysia Agreement.
“If the federal leaders cannot answer this question, the people of Sarawak will continue to be left out in terms of development funds,” Masing told The Borneo Post at his residence here yesterday.
On another issue, Masing who is also Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president was still sore about his party’s poor representation in the Federal Cabinet.
“I am a bit disappointed that parties apart from PBB have been neglected in terms of portfolios and in terms of appointment. And also not only in terms of numbers but the portfolios that is important to Sarawak and Sabah,” said Masing.
Currently PBB which won 14 seats in the last general election has four full ministers and two deputy ministers.
Masing said it would only be sensible that in the upcoming Federal Cabinet reshuffle, MPs from PRS and other BN component parties such as Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) should be included.
Currently, only PRS deputy president Datuk Joseph Entulu is in the Federal Cabinet as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.
The party’s other appointment was given to its vice-president Datuk Joseph Salang but he turned it down. Salang was subsequently appointed chairman of 1Malaysia Sarawak Advisory Council recently.
Masing also implied that if Malaysia Chinese Association (MCA) could not make up its mind whether to take up the slot of Transport Minister, it should be given to other BN component parties.
This he said was because MCA fared badly in the last 13th general election, winning just seven seats out of 37 seats it contested.
“PRS contested in six seats and we won all of them. To govern a country, it’s not just about how many seats you have (won out of the number of seats you contested) but also how your party has performed during elections,” he reiterated.
As such, Masing saw no reason why the slot of the Transport Minister could not be allocated to PRS. Currently, Transport Minister is being held by Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Tun Hussein, who is also the Minister of Defence.
Masing was commenting on Star’s Sabah chief Datuk Dr Jeffery Kitingan that both PRS and SPDP should be daring enough to ask for better representation in the Federal Cabinet as Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had indicated that there would be a cabinet reshuffle after MCA’s annual general meeting next month.
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