KUCHING: Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) expressed cautious optimism in the federal unity government following its first 100 days of power.
It’s Stakan branch chairman Datuk Sim Kiang Chiok said while the party is happy some matters concerning Sarawak had brought benefits it was also convinced that more could have been done during the period.
“Firstly, we would like to convey our sincerest gratitude to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for the historic appointment of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) whip Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof as Deputy Prime Minister as this is a testament to good governance and the capabilities of our fellow Sarawakians contrary to all the false pretenses Pakatan Harapan (PH) has always levied against GPS,” he said in a press statement here Tuesday.
“Secondly, we see the seriousness of the unity government to expedite and hasten the return of our lost rights as per the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) as another boon to Sarawak.
“Surely the federal government would not have done anything without our GPS members reminding them and fighting for our cause,” Sim added.
He also said the party saw the move by Anwar to allow for expenses below RM50 million to be decided by state governments without any need for federal referrals as one that is wise, as it hastens development and also allows for faster action to be taken locally without the need to seek federal approvals.
“These three moves involve and benefited Sarawak, however, to sum up we feel only three matters have been done and that more could have been done in the same period.”
Towards this end he listed matters the federal government had fallen short on during the 100 days.
“We are not pleased with the non-movement on the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) recognition by the federal government, which we are baffled by given that Sarawak could do it but the federal government can’t or won’t do it,” he said.
“Secondly we feel slighted that although part of the government, the allocation made to Sarawak in the budget was abysmal and much lesser than we were hoping for.
“Thankfully wise money management by GPS allows Sarawak to push on but we cannot afford to let this continue because fair allocation is our right and should be given regardless.”
Sim added that, thirdly, SUPP must protest that MP allocations for their constituencies have been slashed as it means that MPs in Sarawak will have to look to GPS to help top up or look to their assemblymen to assist with the reduction.
“In our opinion, allocations for Sarawak MPs should not only have been at least maintained but even increased because of the bare fact that in Sarawak we have much-much bigger constituencies be it in the size of land to cover as well as density in city constituencies .
“All in all, we are not very pleased with the performance thus far but hope that things will improve soon because the government will benefit from the stability that has been achieved of late.
“Hopefully from it we will see the needed institutional reforms in cutting down wastage and leakages, increase prosperity among all Malaysians and reach a better deal for Sarawak,” he added.
