KUCHING: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has announced Roland Engan as the state chairman to lead the party in Sarawak, a position that has been left vacant for more than a year.
He said the decision was unanimously supported by members and leaders from all branches in the state.
“We have sought consensus among the senior and new leaders and members as well as the women and the youth.
“Thus, we are glad to agree that Roland will be the new Sarawak PKR chairman,” he told the reporters during a press conference held at the party office here today.
Anwar said the party would continue to focus on addressing the people’s issues including the rising cost of living, food and good prices, urban and rural poverty as well as land issues and rights.
As for the national level, he said, PKR would fight for good governance and anti-corruption.
PKR Sarawak chairman post has been left vacant since February last year after Julau MP Larry Sng stepped down and quit the party.
Meanwhile, the newly elected state chairman was confident to rebuild the party in Sarawak before the 15th General Election (GE15).
“I have to admit that we lost some leaders, especially those who had been elected by the people in the last few years… But, it doesn’t mean we don’t have any good leaders,” he said.
“Those who are (continue) to stay with the party, they are all capable leaders who are loyal to the party. So, loyalty to the party would be one of the criteria of our candidate in the elections,” he added.
Roland, from the Baram branch, said it was also necessary to ensure a straight fight against Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) in the next general election.
Thus, he would be meeting with the Pakatan Harapan (PH) component parties and other opposition parties in the state to discuss seat allocation for GE15.
“We will meet our partners in the PH first before engaging other non-GPS parties,” he said.
Roland, who is a lawyer, first contested in the 13th General Election for Baram parliamentary seat against Barisan Nasional (BN)’s Anyi Ngau and independent candidate Patrick Sibat Sujang. However, he lost the seat to Anyi, who won by a very slim majority of 194.
In the 11th state election, Roland stood again on the PKR ticket in Telang Usan in a straight fight against BN’s Dennis Ngau. He also lost the seat to Dennis, who won with a razor-thin majority of 167.
In the 14th General Election in 2018, Roland was picked again by PKR to stand in Baram parliamentary seat against the incumbent Anyi. Anyi retained the Baram seat for two consecutive terms with an improved majority of 1,990 against Roland.
In the 12th state election last year, Roland was fielded in Mulu, to challenge incumbent Datuk Gerawat Gala (GPS), Dr Richard Iboh (Parti Bumi Kenyalang) and Professor Dr Son Radu (PSB). However, he did not win.
