MIRI (Dec 21): Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Sarawak chief Larry Sng has announced that he will be giving way to a Dayak leader to lead the party in the coming 12th state election.
“I will discuss this matter with my party president in the coming days to discuss about this transition and the selection of my replacement,” he said in Facebook post today.
Larry, 41, had joined PKR shortly after winning the Julau parliamentary seat on independent ticket in the 2018 general election.
He was appointed as the PKR Sarawak chairman after the previous chairman Baru Bian left the party.
According to Larry, this decision was made in the best interest of PKR Sarawak to be lead by a Dayak leader going into the next state election.
He said the majority of Sarawakians are Dayaks representing 43 per cent of the population with Malay and Chinese representation at 24 per cent only but it was ironical that the poorest and most undeveloped areas in the state are within rural Dayak constituencies.
“Dayaks are also under represented in the top leadership roles in both government and opposition parties. Party presidents / chairman from PBB, PDP, SUPP, PKR, DAP, PSB, PBK, Amanah are either Malays or Chinese, despite their party being largely supported by Dayaks,” he added.
Larry said he believed that by making this change within PKR Sarawak’s leadership, it would augur well and lend the party more credibility in its fight against economic inequalities in the private sector, inequalities in selection and promotion in the public service and its resolve in addressing native customary land issues.
“Even though I am elected in a predominantly Dayak parliamentary seat and have had experience also in state administration, I am confident that the party will find a good replacement,” he added.
He opined that the past ‘defection’ of the party’s former MPs from Puncak Borneo, Saratok, Lubok Antu and Selangau should not be a yardstick to reject a Dayak leadership in PKR Sarawak.
“It is sad to say that, had they remained with Keadilan (PKR) Sarawak, Pakatan Harapan would still be in government today,” he said.
Noting that the sins of the the few should not rest on the shoulders of the many, Larry said he was confident that the people would vote PKR Sarawak back to represent them in those areas which they party have lost.
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