Sarawak PKR has condemned the ‘racist’ brand of politics of Barisan Nasional which is to divide the people according to race in their bid to hold on to power.

“This is what is wrong with Malaysia today – polarisation and the politics of fear and distrust,” said state PKR chief Baru Bian in a statement issued last night.

Baru, who is the Ba’Kelalan state assemblyperson, was responding to statements by two PBB leaders – secretary-general Stephen Rundi, and Nangka state assemblyperson Annuar Rapa’ee.

Rundi ( left ) had accused Baru of not being sincere to his constituents by not supporting the delimitation exercise.

The PBB leader had also criticised Baru for wanting to file a judicial review to stop the delineation exercise on the grounds that information published by the Election Commission was insufficient.

Annuar had said the PKR leader was forgetting his rural roots, which should have been his top concern.

“If no seats were created for the minority groups – especially the Orang Ulu – their voices would not be heard in the state legislative assembly.

"That is why I am surprised that Baru Bian is fighting for more seats in the urban areas rather than rural,” Annuar had said.

'Elected reps speak for all’

Replying to their comments, Baru said:  “The statements by Stephen Rundi and Annuar Rapa’ee only served to show that the BN politicians’ way of thinking and their brand of politics is to divide the people according to race in their bid to hold on to power.

“I am disappointed but not surprised at the outburst from Rundi and Annuar and at their puerile logic for accusing me of being ‘not sincere’ to my people.

“I would invite them to get over their shock and recall the oath taken by Aduns (state assemblypersons) to preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the state of Sarawak and the Federal Constitution,” he said, pointing out that the state constitution sets out and guarantees the rights of all Malaysians.

Baru ( right ) said he was mindful that elected representatives are entrusted to speak up for all citizens of Malaysia irrespective of race, religion, origin, or whether they were from the urban or rural populace.

Nowhere in that oath, he said, did he swear to focus on the rights of the people of Ba’ Kelalan to the exclusion of the rights of all other Malaysian citizens.

Perhaps Stephen Rundi and Annuar Rapa’ee took a different oath, in which case he should be most grateful to have the privilege of their disclosure, Baru added.

He stressed: “We need to move away from racial and communal politics if we are to truly progress as a nation. In modern Malaysia, I do not expect the new breed of people’s representatives to be so parochial and to care only about their individual constituencies. 

“The rakyat are more well-informed than ever about their rights and the abuses of the system by those in power. Change will come, sooner or later,” he added.

‘Increase seats when warranted’

Baru said that his statement on Monday was clear that he welcomed the creation of new seats in the rural areas where it was warranted but at the same time, justice must be served in the urban areas.

“Gerrymandering and malapportionment are devices used by the BN government to manipulate the electoral system in their favour and we must fight for the rights of all Malaysians to fair representation and a government of their choice.

 

“Our electoral system must move closer towards parliamentary democracy and the ‘one person one vote’ ideal with each seat delineation exercise, instead of regressing or remaining stagnant,” he said.

The PKR leader said that he stood by what he said about the urban seats having around 30,000 voters: the value of each vote was far lesser than each rural vote, and the EC chairperson had not corrected the glaring malapportionment.

He cited the parliamentary seat of Bandar Kuching as one of the glaring examples of malapportionment, with the inclusion of the Batu Lintang state seat, making the value of each vote more diluted.

Under the proposed redelineation exercise, the number of voters for Bandar Kuching would increase from 53,754 to 78,394 voters, he added.