DO not be selective in your pursuit of former Barisan Nasional ministers and leaders suspected of corruption.

This is the message Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president James Masing is conveying to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the new Pakatan Harapan federal government.

“BN leaders are not devils, but they are also not angels, either,” Masing, who is also deputy chief minister, said after chairing a party meeting today.

He was asked to comment on reports that the PH government is going after former prime minister Najib Razak, former BN ministers, civil servants who had openly sided with Najib to keep him in power, as well as “a former senior Sarawak leader” , understood as referring to Governor Abdul Taib Mahmud.

Taib has long been accused of abusing his power during his 33 years as chief minister to amass wealth for his family and cronies.

In a statement released after the PRS meeting, Masing said the party will act as a responsible opposition.

“We in PRS respect the wishes of Malaysian voters. We will, therefore, play our role as an opposition party in governing this nation, in manners that have been spelled out in the democratic process.”

He said the opposition will expose wrongdoings and irregularities in the administration, “and we will propose solutions in ways that are beneficial to the people of Malaysia”.

“We will not oppose for the sake of opposing.”

He said being the opposition is nothing new to him and some senior party members.

Masing and a few PRS elected representatives were part of the state opposition between 1987 and 1994, when they were members of the now deregistered Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak, and had failed in their bid to oust the then chief minister Taib from office. – May 16, 2018.