Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister James Masing said this in relation to the defections by PKR leaders in Sabah to new parties.
He said the sole purpose of PKR was to make Anwar the next prime minister of Malaysia.
Yesterday, Lajim Ukin, who is also Klias assemblyman, quit as Sabah PKR chief to form his own party, while Moyog Assemblyman Terrence Siambun said he was leaving PKR for the new party started by former Umno Vice-President Shafie Apdal.
Both men said they were leaving PKR for a “local platform” to better serve their constituents.
“I am not surprised that PKR YBs have quit the party. What surprised me is that it took them so long to realise that their party ideology has no relevance to Sabah and Sarawak,” Masing said in a WhatsApp message today.
Anwar was sacked by former Premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad on allegations of corruption and sodomy. He was later sentenced to six years’ jail for corruption.
The de-facto Pakatan leader is now serving a five-year sentence for sodomy.
Masing said PKR’s existence is solely to “avenge” Anwar.
“PKR was established to avenge Anwar’s unceremonious dismissal by Mahathir and Umno.
“It has no ideology that has any direct benefit to the two East Malaysia states. It was purely and simply a revenge fight. Anwar versus Mahathir and Umno!
“The sooner PKR elected representatives quit PKR in Sabah and Sarawak, the better it is for Sabah and Sarawak. The sooner we can get together and demand our rights, as enshrined in the Malaysia Agreement 1963.”
Meanwhile, in a statement today, Sarawak DAP leader Chong Chieng Jen said he believed Sabah DAP would emerge stronger as “the episode is but a process of weeding the bad apples from the good ones”.
DAP’s Likas Assemblyman Junz Wong announced he quit the party yesterday, but has yet to reveal his next move.
“In a message to those who have quit DAP and PKR on the pretext of ‘local party’ sentiment, my one-liner comment is that they are opportunist politicians,” Chong said.
Chong, who is Kuching MP, described local party regionalism politics as “just another form of the racial politics of Umno used to divide the people so as to consolidate their ruling position”.
“These regionalism and racist sentiments are also used by the ruling party to divert the people’s attention from important national issues and to rationalise cronyism at the expense of the people and the country.”
He said those who had quit DAP and PKR had resorted to the argument that only a local party can better fight for the state.
He said such an argument was similar to the BN’s argument that “only a Malay can fight for Malay rights” or “only a Chinese can fight for Chinese rights”.
“The local parties in Sabah are no better than their counterparts in Sarawak.
“There were times when Sabah was ruled by Sabah local parties. In the end, due to some personal interests, the leaders of these local parties joined BN and together they exploited the people of Sabah. Now Sabah is the poorest state in Malaysia,” Chong said.
“The worth of a political party depends not on whether it is racially-based or regionally based.
“It depends on the party’s ideology and its track record of service and struggle for the people.”
Chong was also rebutting a statement made by Sarawak Reform Party President Lina Soo, who said she was not surprised to hear of the defections and that PKR and DAP are peninsular-based parties that can never truly serve the people of East Malaysia.
“Malayan parties have their own Malaya agenda, and only Sarawak parties will fight unreservedly for Sarawak’s interests, without interference from political masters thousands of kilometres away,” she insisted.