A PARTI Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) vice-president has brushed off Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) as a threat to Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) in the coming state polls.

“I don’t see them able to make much inroads,” Abdul Karim Hamzah, who is also state tourism, arts and culture minister, said of the faction that broke out of Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP).

PBB and SUPP are two parties in the four-party state ruling coalition GPS. The other two parties are Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and Progressive Democratic Party.

PSB, led by the state’s former second finance minister and six-term Bawan Assan rep Wong Soon Koh, was once a member of GPS as a “friendly party” until they got kicked out in July last year for being “unfriendly” to some of their former coalition partners.

The party, reportedly funded by some Sibu timber tycoons, contested in the last state elections in 2016 as a Barisan Nasional-friendly party with BN direct candidates in traditional SUPP seats – Chinese-majority urban and semi-urban seats.

With the party picking up sacked PRS and PKR members, like former PRS deputy president and former Selangau MP Joseph Entulu and former Sarawak PKR chairman and current Selangau MP, Baru Bian, the party will reportedly field more candidates in the rural Dayak-majority seats.

PSB currently has two Dayak state reps in their ranks – its youth chief Johnicol Rayong (Selangau) and Ranum Mina (Opar).

Karim, in a special session with the media at his office this morning, said PSB would not do well because it was made up of people sacked from other parties and each of them having a revenge agenda.

Karim said the former works minister in the short-lived Pakatan Harapan government could lose his Ba Kelalan seat if those who had supported him in the past realise who are backing him now.

“It is an open secret who are the ones behind PSB. A lot of them are big tycoons.

“These are the companies that have been getting all the benefits from the plantations, timber (concessions) and these are the same people plundering the forests and (trampling) the native customary areas.

“These are things Baru had been advocating against. He has always been the fighter for this. Now he is joining them. That is why sometimes I ask myself: “Where is his principle?”

Karim also does not believe GPS will allocate any seats to Bersatu although he is not ruling out the possibility entirely.

“They may be a friend but Bersatu should know the local parties have been looking after the state well in their survey.

Karim said Bersatu should not ask for the sake of asking as their survey should also show if they have any or little chance of winning.

He said in all probability GPS will contest in all the seats allocated to the component parties.

“As far as we are concerned, Bersatu is not a local party.

“Sarawak is well managed by the local parties and we will leave it that way.” – November 4, 2020.