Several Dayak leaders from Sarawak DAP today accused Land Development Minister James Masing of making a lot of excuses for not doing anything to legalise “Dayak” as a race, even though he had been a minister since the days of Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak.

“He was embarrassed when Sarawak DAP wanted to table a motion in the coming State Legislative Assembly to legalise the term “Dayak” to describe the non-Muslim ethnic groups in Sarawak as a race,” said Leon Jimat Donald ( right ), reading a joint statement signed by several Dayak branch leaders of Sarawak DAP.

“He feels embarrassed by DAP’s honest fight for the Dayak. He has been harping that his party – Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) – is fighting for the Dayak, but he is not doing anything about it.

“Only when DAP is showing a strong movement in the rural areas, that he feels threatened and embarrassed,” Leon who is Sarawak DAP vice-chairperson, said at a press conference.

Leon was commenting on the statement by Masing, who is PRS president, that DAP’s plan to table a motion in the coming State Legislative Assembly sitting to amend the Sarawak Interpretation Ordinance 2005 to classify Sarawak natives as ‘Dayak’ would likely be rejected.

Masing: DAP putting cart before the horse

On Monday Masing said that the DAP’s motion was akin to ‘putting the cart before the horse’ as the party failed to follow proper procedures, such as by first calling for an amendment to the Federal Constitution.

“There are certain procedures that need to be followed. First, there is a need to amend the Federal Constitution. That’s the first step to take. Once the amendment is made, then the state will follow suit.

“Hence, the motion will most likely be thrown out (from the DUN). I’m sure there are lawyers in DAP, and they know it. Why do they want to do it?

“It’s their political gimmick. I’m not interested in political gimmick — using Dayak as an excuse to increase their kind of care for us. That type of care is superficial, and I’m not interested in that,” Masing was quoted as saying.

Masing said the MPs of PRS were working on the issue at the federal level, and he stressed that the Dayak were not as ignorant as what the opposition would like everyone to believe.

“Our boys are doing it at the Attorney-General’s Chambers, but we don’t politicise it. Those are matters that need to be done, and we do it properly.

“The PRS boys are doing it. We will clear it with AG’s Chambers first, and then we will do it at the cabinet. After that, we come here, the state, which is the second stage,” Masing had said.

'Masing out to gun down our motion'

Hitting hard at Masing, Leon said that as a senior politician with decades of legislative experience, Masing had overlooked this legal aspect of the term “Dayak”.

“That is why he is out to ensure that Kota Sentosa assemblyperson Chong Chieng Jen’s motion is gunned down,” he said, pointing out that if Masing’s position on the Federal Constitution was correct, then he had more to explain why “Iban” or “Bidayuh” were not in the constitution.

He said that in the definition of Sarawak’s “natives”, as contained in Article 161A of the Federal Constitution, there were all the ethnic groups like Bukitan, Bisayah, Kenyah, Kelabit and so on, except Iban and Bidayuh – the two largest Dayak groups.

Leon asked: “What has Masing, (Deputy Chief Minister) Alfred Jabu, (Social Development Minister) William Mawan and (Infrastructure Development and Communications Minister) Michael Manyin have been doing all these years when the words “Iban” and “Bidayuh” are nowhere stated in the Federal Constitution?

“As such it is a big irony for Masing to now talk about amending the constitution first before amending the Sarawak Interpretation Ordinance,” he said.

He said that the Dayak leaders in DAP were of the opinion that the State should put its house in order first and take the first step to recognise the Dayak as one race, with the Iban, Bidayuh, Bukitan, Bisayah, Kenyah, Kelabit, and so on as the sub-ethnic groups.

Leon said that it was noted that the motion to reclassify Sarawak natives as “Dayak” was the wish of the Dayak and ought to be supported by all parties, especially the Dayak elected representatives, be they from the government or the opposition side.