KUCHING – Sarawak PKR will be led by a so-called council of elders, the state chapter’s leadership said, in a bid to recover from the defection of former chief Julau MP Larry Sng.
The state chapter is not “an organisation that depends on personalities or the popularity of one or two leaders but... is an organisation that is powered by the grassroots,” Sarawak PKR leadership council deputy chairman Abang Zulkifli Abang Engkeh said in a statement yesterday.
He added that the party is focused on social outreach programmes, such as distributing food aid to households affected by flash floods and the Covid-19 pandemic, personal protective equipment for frontliners and wheelchairs for poor patients.
“From Lundu to Lawas, PKR Sarawak is represented by activists and grassroots members who diligently serve and ensure the welfare of the people, and strengthen the pure struggle (of the party). Many of our fighters and grassroots leaders have been with PKR Sarawak for 20 years.”
Abang Zulkifli said the state chapter is now focused on the party’s ideals and explaining its manifesto to the grassroots.
“The Keadilan manifesto champions native customary land rights, electricity and water supply for all, an efficient healthcare system, safer roads, affordable housing, quality education and jobs for youth, economic stimuli, as well as oil and gas revenue for the state for rural development.”
Sng left PKR on February 27, and is now an independent backing Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s Perikatan Nasional government.
He won the Julau seat in the 2018 general election as an independent and then joined PKR after the polls, as the party, together with its peers in Pakatan Harapan, formed the government.
But after the fall of PH last year, Sng took over as Sarawak PKR chief after Selangau MP Baru Bian quit the party.
PKR now has only one federal seat in Sarawak – Miri, which has been held by Michael Yeo Yu Keng since 2013. – The Vibes, March 16, 2021
