SHAH ALAM, 28 Mar: The Sarawak government’s actions of preventing leaders from parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) from entering the state is politically motivated and malicious, said its Secretary-General, Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
Saifuddin said that PKR is allowed to more freely throughout the country, including Sarawak, because they are a registered political party.
“The statement by the Chief Minister of Sarawak, Tan Sri Adenan Satem, that the prohibition to enter is on grounds that it will lead to chaos or nuisance and give an adverse impact to race relations is clearly politically motivated and malicious because it has never been proven,” he said, quoted from Keadilan Daily.
On 2 March, Saifuddin was prevented from entering Sarawak when he arrived in Sibu at 11am and was informed that it was a directive issued by the Chief Minister’s of Sarawak’s Office to prevent him from entering the state.
Also receiving the same fate was the Vice President of PKR, Tian Chua; the Strategy Director, Rafizi Ramli and the Wanita Chief, Zuraida Kamaruddin.
Saifuddin said that it was the first time he was prevented from entering the state and unprecedented action to prevent opposition leaders from the peninsular to participate in any by-election campaign in the state.
“There has never been a problem all this while to enter Sarawak since PKR was established in 1999. I believe that it just confirms that the Sarawak Barisan Nasional (BN) is growing fearful of PKR’s influence and the awareness of the people in the state who have received the party well,” he said.
He said that this also shows that Adenan is worried by PKR’s advancement in the Sarawak by-election which will be held in the next two years.
“One way Adenan is using to stop PKR’s advancement is by imposing restrictions on our leaders in entering Sarawak. Adenan missed his chance to get out of the clutches of Taib Mahmud and only became the successor to his influence and policies, but strangely, we have never faced any problem previously,” he said.
