Formed only after the 2018 general election, GPS comprises lynchpin Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), the Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) and Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), all of whom were a part of BN before GE14.
Sarawak PKR secretary Joshua Jabeng believed PKR’s standing as a national party would not be a disadvantage despite GPS positioning itself as a Sarawak-based party.
He said GPS, and even Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB), claimed to be a local party but was made up of the same people who were in BN in 2018.
“They can create a new logo for themselves but they’re still the same people. So what difference does it make? If GPS talks about themselves as a different party (than BN), that’s not true.
“They’re the same people who were in BN all the while. It’s just a change of clothes, but it’s the same person wearing it,” he told FMT in a phone interview.
Joshua, who is facing a six-cornered contest for the Kakus seat, said nothing has changed since GPS’ rebranding and claimed that the “same problems” remained such as corruption and the abuse of public funds.
He said other major issues included native customary rights (NCR) land as well as the lack of development in Sarawak despite its rich natural resources.
“These are serious issues because land is the people’s property, wealth and future. If that’s taken away, what do they have left? So we still have to fight.
“And looking at development, we are very far behind West Malaysia because we’ve been neglected, not because we were poor in the first place. So, it’s an administrative issue. Some people in power have mismanaged the state’s wealth.”
He said the NCR lands issue was something that PSB had never championed, believing that PKR was better off without working with the Wong Soon Koh-led party.
“Because, how can we talk about land rights, on the one hand, and on the other, we defend them just because they’re our comrade? I believe this is better, for us to be clear in our direction.
“I don’t know why they don’t champion the issue. Maybe you should ask them why they don’t raise a fuss about these NCR abuses,” he said.