SIBURAN: Sarawak’s rights have been eroded when the country was under the leadership of Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad back then.
Native Land Development Assistant Minister Datuk Roland Sagah Wee Inn said back in the olden days, there were many laws such as the PDA and TSA which were changed and Sarawakian leaders were not informed about them thus were not passed in the State Legislative Assembly (DUN).
“Our rights have been disturbed without our approval, so wasn’t this the work of Dr Mahathir?” he questioned during the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) Flag Rally at the Siburan Hall yesterday.
Roland, who is also Tarat assemblyman, said therefore people must understand the point made and not put the blame on the leaders during that period.
“What more if you were to blame the younger leaders as they didn’t know much, they were probably just children at that time, including me as I was still in school,” he pointed out.
He explained that Barisan Nasional (BN) Sarawak had learnt from their mistakes and under the leadership of the late chief minister Pehin Sri Adenan Satem, he was the first to speak up about regaining Sarawak’s eroded rights.
“For DAP or PKR to say that we have been sleeping for these 55 years is wrong and only now GPS wants to fight back. No, when Sarawak was with BN, Adenan had already spoken about it,” he stressed.
He added that that was the reason the present chief minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg withdrew from BN and formed a Sarawak-based coalition to continue Adenan’s mission in fighting for Sarawak’s autonomy.
“We will never repeat the same mistakes again, all we strive for now is to regain our rights and safeguard them,” he said.
