PBK yet to decide on contesting Sarawak Election 2026

Voon Lee Shan (file photo)

By Lian Cheng

KUCHING, Nov 4: With Sarawak’s independence as its sole agenda, local opposition party Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) has yet to decide whether to join the fray in the pending Sarawak Election 2026.

PBK president Voon Lee Shan said he has yet to be inspired to take part in the upcoming election and if ever PBK is to take part, he said the focus will only be on urban seats.

“There is no inspiration. At the moment, there is no inspiration because GPS (Gabungan Parti Sarawak) got very strong machinery,” Voon told DayakDaily.

“If we ever try to go for the election (Sarawak Election 2026), we will try only to field the urban seats,” said Voon.

Voon noted the calm atmosphere in different parts of Sarawak, highlighting the lack of political buzz and activity despite the election being around the corner.

“We are not very sure at this moment because everything is so quiet on the front here. And Lina Soo (president of ASPIRASI or Sarawak People’s Aspiration Party, another local opposition party) is also very quiet.”

He said for local opposition like PBK, the preparation would be different from others as the party is only focusing on the agenda of independence.

“We know it’s tough, but we have to keep independence agenda alive,” said Voon.

Voon who was once the Democratic Action Party (DAP) assembly for Batu Lintang constituency (2006-2011) said he viewed the upcoming election as secondary.

His primary task, he said, is to fight for Sarawak’s independence.

“We have to keep the independence agenda alive because all our resources have been taken by Malaya, by the Federal government. The Parliament is controlled by Malaya; the cabinet is controlled by Malaya and Malaya is also coming to take our seats,” he accused.

On parliamentary seats, he held that what Sarawak and Sabah deserved is one-third of parliamentary seats each, not one-third seats for the two Bornean States.

During Sarawak Election 2021, PBK fielded a total of 73 candidates while ASPIRASI, 15. Both local parties failed in their attempts to win any seats. —DayakDaily