Its political education bureau chief, Soo Tien Ren, said DAP has long engaged in bipartisan collaboration, especially after the formation of the unity government, The Borneo Post reported.

Soo said DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook and then vice-chairman Nga Kor Ming had met with premier Abang Johari Openg to discuss the formation of the unity government.

In addition, he said, the Cabinet ministers (including those from DAP) had been working together for the past two or three years to bring stability to Malaysian politics, something “not observed after the Sheraton Move” in 2020.

Soo said this when revealing that the wing had submitted a request to meet Fadillah and Abang Johari to discuss the wing’s proposal for a bipartisan committee on Sarawak’s O&G rights.

He said that by requesting a meeting, they had hoped to dispel any doubts of their sincerity in mooting the idea for a bipartisan committee as well as to prove their commitment in fighting for the state’s O&G rights.

However, sincerity must be mutual, he said.

“Sarawak DAP has done everything possible to show our sincerity. But sincerity must come from both sides, so if we can work together at the federal level, why can’t we collaborate on state matters as well?” he said.

Last week, Sarawak DAP Youth proposed that a bipartisan committee be established to strengthen the state’s position in negotiations with the federal government over its O&G rights.

However, Fadillah said he did not understand the rationale behind the proposal and wondered if it was “genuine or merely political manoeuvring”, when dismissing the proposal.

He also said Sarawak DAP Youth had “been more inclined to criticise Gabungan Parti Sarawak despite this being our fight all along”.

Soo defended the wing’s criticisms of the state’s ruling coalition, saying it was not criticising GPS’s policy endlessly, but was aiming to facilitate constructive criticisms and proposals.

“This is the aim of Sarawak DAP, to introduce a new kind of politics to Sarawak,” he said.