DAP\u2019s call for greater \u201ccheck and balance\u201d in the coming Sarawak Election is an attempt to expand the influence of a Malayan-based political party in Sarawak, said Sentosa assemblyman Wilfred Yap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yap said Sarawakians should question whether more political space should be given to a party whose political roots, leadership and organisational structure are based in Peninsular Malaysia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDAP may operate in Sarawak, but it remains fundamentally a Malayan political party with a national structure and leadership based in Peninsular Malaysia,\u201d he said in a statement today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said Sarawak\u2019s political future should be determined by Sarawakians, taking into account the state\u2019s unique history, constitutional position, political culture and rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yap said the concept of \u201ccheck and balance\u201d should not be used as an excuse to increase the number of representatives from a Malayan-based party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA strong State Assembly does not depend on having more members from a Malayan party. It depends on elected representatives who genuinely put Sarawak first,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He stressed that while constructive criticism and debate were welcomed, Sarawak\u2019s rights, resources and constitutional position must remain the priority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yap said efforts to strengthen Sarawak\u2019s rights under MA63 required political strength and unity, particularly in areas such as constitutional safeguards, fiscal autonomy, immigration powers and natural resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA united Sarawak strengthens our hand. A divided Sarawak weakens it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that under Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), Sarawak had been able to chart its own development path, strengthen its financial position, protect its interests and pursue greater autonomy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe coming election should not be reduced to a question of how many opposition seats DAP can win. It should be a choice about who Sarawakians trust to determine Sarawak\u2019s future,\u201d Yap said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy position is clear. DAP is a Malayan-based political party. Sarawak should not surrender more of its political space and decision-making influence to Malayan parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSarawak belongs to Sarawakians. Sarawak must be led by Sarawakians, and Sarawak\u2019s future must be decided by Sarawakians.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DAP\u2019s call for greater \u201ccheck and balance\u201d in the coming Sarawak Election is an attempt to expand the influence of a Malayan-based political party in Sarawak, said Sentosa assemblyman Wilfred Yap. Yap said Sarawakians should question whether more political space should be given to a party whose political roots, leadership and organisational structure are based in Peninsular Malaysia. \u201cDAP may operate in Sarawak, but it remains fundamentally a Malayan political party with a national structure and leadership based in Peninsular Malaysia,\u201d he said in a statement today. He said Sarawak\u2019sRead More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33457,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,1,7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48966"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48966"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48966\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48967,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48966\/revisions\/48967"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}