KUCHING: Sarawak’s ruling coalition Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), which was kingmaker during the formation of Perikatan Nasional (PN) federal government early last year, has become a ‘kingbeggar’, said Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak chief Chong Chieng Jen yesterday.
The Stampin MP listed four issues; namely the Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, the Batang Lupar Bridge project, the use of the word ‘Allah’ and Undi18 (lowering the voting age in the country to 18) as the factors that demean GPS as “kingbeggar”.
A screenshot of Chong during his Facebook Live session yesterday.
“(Local Government and Housing Minister Dato Sri) Dr Sim (Kui Hian) said they would ask for more (Covid-19) vaccines for Sarawakians when PM (prime minister) comes to Sarawak for his work visit next Thursday.
“But right from the beginning, the Sarawak government said they can buy their own vaccines and do not need to rely on the federal government. But now they are asking for more vaccines, their position has shifted.
“We hope Sarawak government can stick to its own words and deliver – to vaccinate at least 70 per cent or even 100 per cent of Sarawakians so that we can get back our lives,” he said during his Facebook live session.
Chong urged the state government to disclose the number of Sarawakians who had been vaccinated against Covid-19 as well as its projection of the rate of vaccination in the state.
On the Batang Lupar Bridge project, he said GPS leaders kept saying that the previous Pakatan Harapan (PH) federal government had cancelled the allocation for it but could not come up with any evidence to support their accusation.
The DAP lawmaker said he could prove that former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who said he (Najib) approved RM1 billion for the project in 2016, did not have any allocation for the project.
He showed federal budget documents, which listed then federal government only allocated RM29 million for bridges in Sarawak in 2017 and RM78 million for the same in 2018.
“Mind you, these allocations were for all bridges in Sarawak and not just for one bridge. With these budget documents, I can prove that there was no allocation from BN (Barisan Nasional) for the Batang Lupar Bridge project.
“There was no allocation of RM1 billion in the first place, so how did the PH government cancel it?” asked the Kota Sentosa assemblyman.
Chong pointed out that GPS had been a part of the PN government for a year now but failed to bid for federal funds for the construction of Batang Lupar Bridge.
“If you’re the kingmaker, why can’t you make the federal government allocate? Your kingmaker position can’t even make the federal government bear half of the construction cost (RM848 million).
“So stop talking about PH cutting the project when there was no allocation for the Batang Lupar Bridge project. One year in the PN government, you (GPS) failed to get the federal allocation for the project,” he said.
He added it was ridiculous for Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Dato Sri Alexander Nanta Linggi to advise Sarawakians against seeking cheap publicity over the issue on the use of the word ‘Allah’ among non-Muslims.
“Why can’t we discuss? Nanta is a cabinet minister and when the cabinet made the decision to appeal against the court decision to allow non-Muslims to use the word ‘Allah’, was he totally silent or did he agree to the decision? Did he object? If he objected, did he take any action to follow through that?
“Without the support of GPS, this PN government will fall definitely, they do not have the number. Why this kingmaker (GPS) did not exercise his power? So I said the kingmaker is no longer kingmaker but kingbeggar,” he added.
Chong reminded all that the Undi18 policy was passed in Parliament in July 2019 and supposed to be implemented in July last year.
He said the Election Commission (EC) should kick off its implementation efforts to empower citizens aged 18 and above to exercise their voting rights.
“It was supposed to take effect in July 2020 but recently EC said it would be implemented only in September 2022. PBB expressed disappointment that EC did not expedite the implementation of Undi18, so did Dr Sim, who asked EC to explain.
“You guys are in the cabinet, why are you making statements outside, asking EC to explain? It seems like their wishes were ignored by the PN government, and this kingmaker is nothing but kingbeggar who can only talk outside, with no decision-making power within the PN government,” he said.
Chong added: “The youngsters should keep pushing for Undi18, it’s your right.”
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