PARTI Bangsa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) has announced that it will be contesting state constituencies with a Dayak-majority population in the Sarawak state election.
PBDS president Moses Ripai said there are growing voices from grassroot Dayaks for PBDS to feature in the state polls in a big way.
"We have decided that we will field candidates in the coming Sarawak elections.
"We are identifying the constituencies we will contest in but they will be those where the Dayaks are the majority, such as central Sarawak.
"The grassroot Dayaks are urging PBDS to be their voice as they want to fight for better rights and a greater share of the development progress in this state.
"We PBDS have the experience and the candidates to offer the Dayaks in Sarawak an effective voice," he said in a statement after a PBDS gathering.
Moses said the PBDS was once a very strong party.
It was an effective opposition party in the Sarawak Legislative Assembly with numerous seats in the 1980s and early 1990s, he stressed.
At that time PBDS was part of the Federal Barisan Nasional but an opposition at the Sarawak state level.
Moses said that now, PBDS is independent and not affiliated to either the Unity Government at the federal level or the ruling Gabungan Parti Sarawak at the state.
Being independent means it can be more vocal in fighting for the Dayaks at both state and national levels, he added.
PBDS was once strong for about two decades.
However, internal leadership tussles and problems within the rank and file caused a series of break-ups that eventually saw the PBDS collapse.
Now it has no seats at state and parliamentary levels. – April 2, 2025
