Bidayuh Must NOT Consider SPDP on Next State Election

Timik still blames leadership

KUCHING: Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) president Dato Sri William Mawan’s method of maintaining his party’s multi-racial spirit in the federal cabinet is hard to swallow for Peter Timik Juik.

Timik, who on Wednesday openly blamed the SPDP leadership for the loss of Bidayuh representation in the federal cabinet, could not accept Mawan’s reason for the exclusion of SPDP vice president Datuk Dr Tiki Lafe.

“I don’t buy Datuk William Mawan’s argument that SPDP need to set aside one Dayak minority community in the party in order to put up another, and in the same breath claims that the party is dedicated to equally looking after the interests of all communities,” he said.

That said, Timik pointed out that he was happy for the Orang Ulu community, particularly the Kenyahs, because SPDP senior vice president Datuk Jacob Sagan was appointed as a deputy minister.

Similarly, he said he appreciated the appointment of another SPDP vice president, Jelaing Mersat, also as a deputy minister but he could not see why Dr Tiki had to be dropped.

“When you realise that another Dayak community is so well represented not only in the federal cabinet but also in the state, there does not seem to be any real need to take out the sole Bidayuh federal cabinet representative in order to accommodate another unrepresented minority Dayak community,” said Timik.

He believed that SPDP could work together with its other BN partners to ensure that as many minority groups as possible were represented in the federal cabinet.

Timik was Dr Tiki’s principal assistant secretary while the latter was the Deputy Rural and Regional Development Minister. Dr Tiki had served two terms in the federal cabinet.

On Wednesday, Timik said the SPDP leadership had “failed to maintain the Bidayuh representation by not being fully and wholeheartedly supporting Dr Tiki in the last parliamentary election”.

He added: “Some of those who make the noisy complaint of Bidayuh absence in the federal cabinet line-up might not themselves have been enthusiastic supporters of Datuk Dr Tiki’s campaign efforts in Mas Gading.

“Datuk Dr Tiki could have failed to win the Mas Gading seat if leaders of other BN component parties were not asked to help in the campaign.”

In response to Timik’s criticisms, Mawan had said on Thursday that Timik should thank SPDP for giving Bidayuhs eight years in the Federal cabinet. He pointed out that SPDP was a multi-racial party and it could not champion the cause of one particular race.

Rather, SPDP strove to ensure that the other minorities in the party were also represented in the cabinet, Mawan said.

“What about the other races? What about the Kedayans in Bekenu? What about the Bisayas in Limbang?

“What about Kayan and Kenyahs in Baram, the other Orang Ulu like Kelabit and Lun Bawang? What about the Chinese? I cannot just be taking about one issue or one single race as far as SPDP is concerned as highlighted by Dr Tiki’s secretary,” he said.

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Please make it enough for now SPDP. Stop using media to whack the Bidayuh. Please tell Bidayuh that they are not needed in SPDP so that they can look for alternative party. Timik had thanked SPDP by given full support for SPDP in Bau. The prove is there for SPDP to appreciate.

Najib supposedly don’t have to come down to help Tiki during the campaign. There is no need to be scared of Patau Rubis. He is just an ordinary man like me and SPDP members. It is now for SPDP to boast of their victory in Bau by one man role. It was not about the party but the charisma of the leaders to lie to the villagers.

Printed media must be used in an appropriate manner and not to spark the hatred and rib. Bidayuh supported the other aborigines and “minority” in the parliament since SNAP and PBDS era and the prove was, Bidayuh did not complain at all.