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MIRI – Former Miri mayor Datuk Lawrence Lai will contest the hotly coveted Miri parliamentary seat against Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) and incumbent PKR in Sarawak’s northern oil capital.
A senior lawyer by profession, Lai will represent Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB), where he is vice-president.
He today announced his candidacy for the constituency, whose MP over the last two terms has been PKR‘s Dr Michael Teo Yu Keng.
Lai told reporters that he is offering himself as PSB’s candidate as he believes the party can offer an effective check and balance at both the state and national levels.
“We Sarawakians need an effective and loud voice in Parliament to speak up on issues affecting the grassroots people in this vast state.
“We in PSB will be an effective check and balance over the ruling government at the state and national levels, speaking up for the ordinary folk in Sarawak,” he said, adding that PSB will work closely with local opposition parties.
Lai said that PSB, Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK), Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS), and activist group Sarawak 4 Sarawakians (S4S) have agreed to fight for Sarawakian rights in Parliament, and this must be done by elected MPs from Sarawakian parties.
The pressing issues include restoring full rights to the state’s oil and gas resources.
Lai claimed that Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), the coalition that SUPP is part of and which rules over the state, cannot be relied on.
“GPS has changed from a kingmaker to a ‘begging king’,” he said. “GPS is always controlled by their Malayan political partners.”
He warned that if GPS, Umno, and PAS control the large share of seats in Parliament, there will be no political check and balance.
“Unless the people of Sarawak turn out in big numbers to vote on polling day and successfully elect the candidates of PSB, PBK, or PBDS , they cannot have their voices heard,” he said.
Lai thanked the representatives of PBDS, PBK, and S4S, as well as his PSB party comrades, who accompanied him to collect the election nomination form today.
He said this is clear proof that local parties and social organisations can unite successfully and work together as a “Sarawakian team” to fight for their rights and interests.
Lai expressed regret that GPS has failed to reclaim Sarawak’s oil resources, taxation rights, and educational and medical autonomy.
“Pakatan Harapan parties have also failed to look after or safeguard Sarawakian interests during their 22 months in power as the federal government,” he said.
Lai was mayor of Miri for six years when he was with SUPP.
He officially joined PSB earlier this year and was appointed as its GE15 election coordinator for northern Sarawak.
Miri has up to 143,000 voters, including about 57,000 first-time voters. – The Vibes, October 28, 2022