DAP will provide free legal services to community leaders and tribal headmen who want to challenge the state government’s directive that bars them from attending Pakatan Harapan organised events.

“We will assist them in filing for a judicial review of the order,” Sarawak DAP and PH chairman Chong Chieng Jen said at a media conference in Kuching.

Chong said DAP was willing to give legal assistance for free as the directive was “unconstitutional, unreasonable, irrational and even insulting” as it the treated community leaders like schoolchildren.

“It’s unconstitutional because the constitution guarantees our freedom of association and freedom of movement.

“If the state government refuses to withdraw the directive and if there are any community leaders who are willing to come forward and challenge it, we will help,” he said.

The memo dated October 11 from State Secretary Mohamad Morshidi Abdul Ghani to residents (heads of administration) of the state’s 12 administrative divisions stated that appointed community leaders and village headmen were barred from immediate effect from attending any PH federal government organised functions.

“Such a directive is a clear insult to them,” said Chong, who is also the Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism.

He also disputed the claim that these community leaders and headmen were considered as “civil servants”.

“Although they receive some allowances monthly from the state government, they are not civil servants,” he said.

The state government has not made any official statement on the directive but a senior administration official told The Malaysian Insight that since the community leaders and headmen were on government payroll, they were considered civil servants and must follow any directive imposed by the State Secretary.

Chong said since his appointment as federal minister, he had encountered two instances where the community leaders had been directed by the resident’s office not to attend functions organise by his ministry.

That was even before the memo was issued.

Both the incidents happened in Bintulu.

He said in one instance, a village headman (penghulu) was directed by the Bintulu resident not to attend the ministry’s consumer awareness function and in the second, Chong said a longhouse headman was pressured by the resident not to have a similar function at his longhouse.

Chong said both headmen had ignored the resident’s request.

“I’d just like to tell Abang Jo (Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg) that when the state government acts unreasonably, and irrationality, such orders of the state government will not be complied with by the majority of the people.” – October 21, 2018.