KUCHING: A rebranded Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) is what attracts former Selangau MP Datuk Joseph Entulu Belaun.
In a statement made available here today, Entulu, who was sacked by Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) just days before May 9 14th General Election (GE14), said multiracial PSB afforded him the best platform to fight for Sarawak rights and the rights of the Dayak community.
Entulu said he considered PRS the ideal vehicle to fight for the interests of Sarawak unlike the Pakatan Harapan parties which are controlled by central leadership in West Malaysia.
“PSB has always been a party friendly to the Sarawak government throughout the different administrations,” he said, referring to the leaderships of Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, the current Head of State, the late Pehin Sri Adenan Satem and current chief minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.
Entulu said this in response to “the recent spate of press reports attacking Parti Sarawak Bersatu [PSB] for accepting me and my supporters as members”.
Entulu took pain to explain the circumstances that led him to join PSB.
“It is a matter of fact that I was sacked as a member of Parti Rakyat Sarawak on the eve of nomination day before the last Parliamentary General Election. At the same time, PRS also sacked Datuk William Nyallau and several other Dayak leaders who were aligned to me.
“At that time, I was the deputy president of PRS and I was the incumbent Member of Parliament for the constituency of Selangau as well as full Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department before the dissolution of Parliament. Datuk Nyallau was the incumbent Member of Parliament for Sri Aman.
“We were all shocked to be sacked so suddenly.
“It is a fact that we were not given any notice to appear before the committee that decided to sack us. It is also a fact that the PRS Supreme Council did not convene any meeting or make any decision to sack us. Our sudden sacking was in breach of the party constitution.
“What is not publicly known is that both Nyallau and I had already been shown our Surat Watikah from the then prime minister for us to be nominated as candidates for the seats of Sri Aman and Selangau, respectively. This means that the then Barisan Nasional chairman had decided to nominate us as candidates.
“The last minute decision of PRS to sack us effectively pre-empted the decision of the BN chairman and deprived us of our candidacy. After that, we were party-less.”
