KUCHING: Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak Baru (PBDSB) president Cobbold John Lusoi has revealed that his party would contest in all the 36 predominantly Dayak seats in the next state election.
With speculation that the election is not far off, PBDSB is bracing itself to challenge the ruling Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) and state Pakatan Harapan (PH).
“This time, PBDSB is confident in facing the state election with greater support from younger voters who are better educated,” Cobbold said on Friday.
He told DayakDaily that the party would also count on new voters and intellectual Dayaks to give it the edge over its opponents.
“Who else can take care of ourselves if not the leaders in our own party?” he asked.
Meanwhile, commenting on the rise of Dayakism once again with the fall of the once mighty Barisan Nasional (BN) and with PH now at the federal level, Assoc Prof Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi of Universiti Malaya cautioned that PBDSB could split the Dayak community even further in the next state election.
He pointed out that PBDSB would be up against GPS (comprising Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) and GPS-friendly Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) and PH (comprising Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), Parti Amanah Negara (PAN), Democratic Action Party (DAP) and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR)).
According to Azman, politics among the Dayaks with their participation in too many political parties such as PBDSB, PKR, DAP, UPP, PDP, PSB, PRS and PBB will further divide the community
“But at the same time, these political parties will provide more options for the Dayak community to choose from,” he said
While the many choices would be good for the Dayak community, the situation would favour a local-based coalition like GPS to continue its dominance, he pointed out.
“This is because any split in the Dayak community will benefit GPS, which is a locaI-based component party, but inflict more harm on the Dayak community itself,” added Azman.
