S'WAK POLLS On the eve of polling day, PKR deputy president Mohd Azmin Ali has sent a message to the voters in Sarawak after being barred from entering the state.

He pointed out that the party’s candidates for the state election are an inspiration to all Malaysians, including himself.

“They are the peoples’ heroes. They are my heroes,” he added in a statement.

The Selangor menteri besar said the candidates were passionate and committed to the cause of Sarawakians.

“They have struggled for decades to fight for a better Sarawak, defending peoples’ rights, their ancestral rights to land, working tirelessly on the ground with the different communities.

“This is the real meaning of standing up for the rights of Sarawak, which, in case anyone has forgotten, is a founding member of the Federation of Malaysia,” he added.

Azmin said while the constitutional basis of the federation was not being questioned, there was however no doubt that issues of autonomy for Sarawak were of genuine concern.

“We in PKR ever since our inception have fought for genuine autonomy for Sarawak. We fervently believe the people must be given whatever is rightly due to them,” he added.

The PKR leader accused Sarawak BN leaders of “bleeding the people dry and shortchanging them” in terms of welfare and socio-economic development with the connivance of their counterparts from the peninsula.

“As if the poverty and the high cost of living are not bad enough to oppress the people of Sarawak, the BN government, backed by 25 Sarawak BN MPs, has seen it fit to pass the GST causing even further hardship and suffering.

“For decades, the people of Sarawak have also been denied the billions of ringgit of oil royalty rightly due to them.

“For how long are they prepared to be humiliated by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak who publicly declared in front of your chief minister that oil royalty is not a priority?” he asked.

Azmin said while Chief Minister Adenan Satem could place barriers to prevent him from entering Sarawak, he would however be unable to prevent the winds of change from sweeping across the state.

PKR is contesting in 40 seats, six out of which would see them locking horns with its Pakatan Harapan ally DAP following the failure of seat negotiations.