KUCHING – As the election buzz continues to reverberate in Sarawak, native indigenous party Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak Baru (PBDS) president Bobby William told The Vibes yesterday that the party will be contesting in 38 seats for the coming state election.
Sarawak is expected to hold a state election by the end of this year after Governor Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud officially dissolved the state assembly on November 3.
The election must be held within sixty days following the dissolution of the state assembly.
“All our candidates are Dayaks and they will be self-funding their election campaigns,” Bobby said.
He said the party’s candidates range from ex-policemen, army officers, retired teachers, professionals, to several businessmen.
“Most of our candidates are in the age range of 50 years and above,” added Bobby.
At present, he said, the party will only announce the 11 seats it will be contesting, including Bukit Goram, Meluan, Samalaju, Batu Danau, Pelagus, Katibas, Gedong, Opar, Senadin, and Murum.
“From time to time we will announce more seats,” the party stalwart said.
The original PBDS was first established in 1983 by Datuk Amar Leo Moggie after he left the now-defunct Sarawak National Party (SNAP) following his loss in the contest for the president’s post against the late Datuk James Wong Kim Ming.
As a breakaway of SNAP, PBDS won 15 seats in the 1987 state election while its now-defunct ally, Sarawak Malaysian People’s Association, won five seats.
PBDS suffered the misfortune of being deregistered twice in 2003 and 2004 over a leadership crisis between Datuk Daniel Tajem Miri, the then president, and the late Tan Sri James Jemut Masing as the challenger.
The dissolution of PBDS led to the formation of two offshoot parties, including Parti Rakyat Sarawak led by Masing and Datuk Sng Chee Hua.
Meanwhile, attempts to refloat PBDS finally succeeded in 2013 after the party re-registered as Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak Baru.
Till today the party has continued its fight for the upliftment of the Dayak people, which it claims are being treated unfairly and not accorded the rights constitutionally theirs.
According to party secretary-general Julius Enchana, PBDS will contest the 12th state election with a manifesto listing seven critical tasks the Dayaks feel need to be urgently addressed:
- To highlight the need for equitable rights and equality for the Dayak community in relation to sharing national wealth
- To improve and enhance the economic state of the Dayak community in order to raise it to a standard on par with other advanced communities in the country
- To facilitate education and scholarship opportunities for the Dayaks, which includes creating Dayak graduates in medical science and training Sarawakians as teachers who can be posted back to the state as doctors and educators
- To resolve problems pertaining to ownership of land, and fight for the repealing of certain provisions in the Sarawak Land Code that seek to obliterate certain native customary land rights
- To facilitate, retain, and promote Dayak adat, including the recognition of “Bansa Dayak” in the federal constitution as a mainstream race like other communities, not to be referred as “others” in official documents
- To create and promote religious freedom as spelled out in the Malaysian constitution
- To create awareness on the importance of promoting politics and political awareness among the Dayak community in relation to their participation and contribution to nation-building, and their own personal upliftment
In a recent meeting, allies PBDS and Sarawak People’s Action Party (Aspirasi) agreed to a unanimous decision to appoint Bobby as the chief minister should they succeed in forming the next state government.
According to Aspirasi president Lina Soo, members of both parties believe it is high time the post of chief minister is returned to the Dayaks and that Bobby will make for a competent chief minister for the state. – The Vibes, November 14, 2021
