Wen Mengelit
MIRI: A Penan chief in Tinjar described political secretary to the chief minister Richard Will Uban as a true defender of Barisan Nasional (BN) and the aspiration of constituents in Marudi by putting their interest as his top priority.
Longhouse chief Wen Mengelit of Batu Bukit Baled, Lopok said he was surprised that the political secretary had been attacked for stating that people in Marudi wanted to see progress, unity and continued leadership under the BN government.
“It seems that we the voters in Marudi are given a backseat and the political parties attacking him are placing themselves above us,” he lamented.
Wen came to The Borneo Post office here yesterday to voice his dissatisfaction over what he perceived as over-politicking and sidelining the aspirations of the people who preferred Assistant Minister of Public Utilities and Assistant Minister of Agriculture Datuk Sylvester Entri Muran to be re-nominated as their state assemblyman.
“That is wrong and as a longhouse chief from Lapok, even though we support Datuk Sylvester, we don’t go about maligning others,” he said.
He said Wil was only doing his job as a political secretary to the chief minister to ensure that BN’s strength in Marudi would not be eroded due to splits among voters.
“The Chief Minister has already said there would be only one BN candidate in every constituency – meaning Datuk Sylvester in Marudi. Making sure BN led by the Chief Minister win is Wil’s top priority and concern,” he said.
In a press statement, Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) branch leaders from Senadin, Pujut and Lambir slammed their supreme council member Richard Wil Uban for backing Entri’s bid to be retained as BN’s candidate for Marudi, saying it went against the spirit of the ‘Merger of Minds’ with SPDP and SUPP.
Wil spoke out against the allegations during a field visit during which Entri handed over zinc roofs, water tanks, kitchen utilities and immediate relief assistance to 18 families from the 10-door Rumah Kajan Sigeh, Long Teru, Tinjar that was recently razed to the ground by fire.
Wen said political parties imposing their will on the people could see their allegations backfire on them as it is the voters who will cast their votes in the coming state election.
“This is not a party or alliance election. Our views and sentiment of the constituents should come first,” he said.
The eloquent Penan longhouse chief said unity and solidarity among the people and longhouse chiefs should be the most important consideration, particularly in the run-up to the state election which Adenan hoped would give him his own mandate.
Source: http://miri.my/2016/01/11/penan-chief-backs-richard-wil/