A motion to formalise the practice would be tabled for debate at the party’s general assembly tomorrow, Dayak Daily reported, quoting the outgoing PBB Youth chief Miro Simuh.

PBB is divided into Bumiputera and Pesaka wings, with branches grouped into each wing. The Bumiputera wing comprises members from the Malay, Melanau and Kedayan communities, while the Pesaka wing comprises those of the Dayak communities, including Iban, Bidayuh, and Orang Ulu.

He said PBB formed the Bumiputera and Pesaka wings to ensure balanced ethnic representation. “This makes PBB the only party designed in such a way, to uphold consensus,” he was quoted as saying.

“If a branch is formed under the Bumiputera wing, then its leadership positions should be held by members of the same wing,” he said. “This has been the practice across most branches, and we must not disrupt it,” he said in his speech at the delegates’ congress of the youth and women’s divisions.

This principle also applied to the composition of the party’s Supreme Council and the youth and women’s divisions.