There was no written agreement with PKR or Pakatan Rakyat on seat allocations 'few months' before the April 16 Sarawak elections, says Sarawak Nasional Party.
KUCHING: Sarawak Nasional Party (SNAP) has strongly rebutted PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim’s claims that it had signed an agreement with the party, to contest only in three seats a few months before the recent Sarawak election.
SNAP Youth chief Dayrell Enterie said Anwar’s statement was “totally incorrect”.
“This statement of his (Anwar) is totally incorrect as neither SNAP nor its president (who was erroneously named Stanley Jugol in the Malaysiakini article) had entered into any written agreement whatsoever on seat allocations with PKR.
“SNAP wishes to reiterate that it is not a push-over party for any West Malaysian entity nor is SNAP a Pakatan stooge,” he said in a statement mailed to FMT.
Dayrell was responding to Anwar who had reportedly said that “there was an agreement in writing, where SNAP only agreed to contest three seats, and then they asked us if it is possible to have another three”.
“It was signed a few months before the election by (SNAP president) Stanley (Jugol),” Anwar had said.
Anwar had also said that Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian and his “Dayak boys had strong issues against SNAP”.
“It was not just about being from a different party… (it was also about) whether or not this group of people (from SNAP) can be trusted,” Anwar said.
Inherent right
Expressing SNAP’s frustration, Dayrell said the party was fed up with the insinuations and allegations PKR has slapped it with.
“As a Sarawak-based Party, SNAP has an inherent right to decide its own direction. Being a local party, it has the legitimate obligation to care for Sarawakians.
“SNAP is fed up with the allegations by a Pakatan party that it is Umno-funded, and an agent for BN.
“We left because SNAP was not accorded any respect,” he said, adding that in view of PKR’s treatment of SNAP in the last state election, there is now a strong desire for SNAP to be unencumbered by any political collaboration.
This, however, did not mean that SNAP will not collaborate with anyone.
“SNAP subscribes to the Borneo Agenda which seeks the fulfilment of the 18-points of the 1962 Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) Report.
“We welcome those who share SNAP’s aspirations to struggle for better deals for the people of Sarawak, especially the rural poor,” he said.
He added that it is imperative that all the election promises made by campaigners from Peninsular Malaysia be fulfilled.
“They should never assume that Sarawak can be a dumping ground for all these empty sweet talks and rhetoric. SNAP, after all, stays put while the West Malaysians have all left,” he said.
