Butt out! SPDP tells MCA

Sarawak Barisan Nasional’s (BN) parties are now locked in a quarrel over Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud’s extended stay in government with the chief minister’s loyalists telling MCA to stop meddling in the hornbill state.

Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) vice-president Sylvester Entri Muran chided his political equivalent in MCA Gan Ping Siew today for demanding Taib take responsibility for the loss of Chinese votes in the state election and resign immediately.


The statement, said Entri, shows Gan’s “blatant ignorance” of Sarawak’s political landscape.

Writing in an emailed statement to national news agency Bernama today, the Marudi assemblyman pointed out that it was Taib who had secured BN’s victory during the polls when the ruling pact successfully retained its two-thirds majority in the state assembly.

BN won 55 seats in the 71-seat Sarawak assembly on Saturday but lost 16 seats — 12 to DAP, three to PKR and one to independent — the ruling pact’s worst electoral performance in Sarawak since 1987.

Its losses to DAP were largely Chinese-majority urban seats, triggering Gan’s statement yesterday that Taib should step down immediately.

The Chinese community make up the largest segment of the 979,796-strong Sarawak electorate.

“MCA are using their sharpest spear to attack their own toughest shield. This is a clear-cut smear campaign by the MCA to undermine the state leadership,” Bernama quoted Entri as saying.

Entri also stressed that Sarawak voters had indicated their support to retain Taib as Chief Minister and their wishes should be respected.

He pointed out that Taib already has a succession plan in mind; one which would ensure political stability and economic prosperity.

Entri also reportedly noted that it was merely SUPP (Sarawak United People’s Party) that had performed badly in the state election whereas BN’s other Sarawak partners like SPDP, Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) won.

SUPP, which claims to represent the interests of the Chinese community, suffered its worst ever electoral defeat when it only secured six of the 19 state seats it contested.

Its dismal showing mirrored that of MCA’s performance in Elections 2008 when its parliamentary representation was reduced by more than half from 31 seats to 15.

PBB, of which Taib is president, succeeded in recapturing all the 35 seats it had contested while PRS won in eight seats and SPDP won in six.

As such, Entri said that Gan should focus on revitalising MCA instead of meddling in Sarawak politics so that it could become a good platform for the Chinese community in the peninsula.

“I suggest that the MCA should not toe the line of (the) opposition in order to be popular within the (Chinese) community.

“The party should just sit down and analyse what has happened so that it can prepare for the next general election,” Bernama quoted Entri as saying.

By Clara Chooi