PH parliamentary coordinators vote-buying move: Minister
Published on: Sunday, February 23, 2020
By: FMT
KUCHING: A Sarawak minister has criticised the appointment of Pakatan Harapan parliamentary coordinators in the state, saying it is part of the coalition’s attempt to buy votes for the coming state elections.
On Friday, Baru Bian, chairman of the state development action council for the federal government, appointed 19 parliamentary coordinators to represent the PH government in parliamentary seats held by the opposition.
ADVERTISEMENT
He said the coordinators’ role was to ensure that programmes and projects under the federal government’s five-year development plan were carried out smoothly.
They would also be responsible for strengthening the relationship between the federal government and the people, especially since the state was governed by Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS).
However, PBB vice-president and Youth and Sports Minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the appointment of parliamentary coordinators was similar to that of the Federal Village Community Management Council (MPKKP) established by the PH government in Sarawak.
The Asajaya assemblyman said the appointment of the coordinators and council members was disguised as disseminating information to the public when, in reality, they were to “inject public funds to buy votes at the grassroots level”.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I am unsure what the PH government and Baru have in mind when they appointed the parliamentary coordinators to monitor projects in the state.
“However, looking at the names and personalities of those being appointed, I can only say that this is the PH government’s backdoor attempt to justify payment of public funds to their cronies whom they have in mind to contest in the elections,” he told FMT.
ADVERTISEMENT
Describing the move as “despicable” and “irresponsible”, Karim said he hoped the people would realise PH’s “ulterior motive to split Sarawakians and take over the state government”.
Meanwhile, the committee members of the PKR Batang Sadong branch said they rejected the appointment of Jamilah Baharuddin as the parliamentary coordinator for the constituency.
They said they had not been consulted on the appointment.
“We were made to understand the nomination was done with vested interests to boost Jamilah’s image and enable her to contest in Simunjan in the state elections”, they said in a statement.
Describing this as an abuse of power, they said the choice of the coordinators for Batang Sadong as well as Petra Jaya had “elements of cronyism and nepotism” as both were linked to the Sarawak leadership council (MPN) deputy chairman Baharuddin Mokhsen.
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
