KUCHING: Parti Rakyat Sarawak’s (PRS) President, Datuk Seri Joseph Salang Gandum, called for the creation of more rural Dayak constituencies with smaller rural constituencies.
Speaking at the party’s 6th Triennial Delegates Conference (TDC) today, Salang said smaller rural constituencies would enable smoother implementation of government projects and facilitate the dissemination of ideas aimed at reducing poverty in the interior areas.
“We suggest the creation of more rural Dayak constituencies which are smaller, to facilitate smoother delivery of projects and dissemination of ideas that can help in our struggle to reduce the incidence of poverty,” he said at the event held at Riverside Majestic Hotel here.
Salang stressed that PRS, like other component parties in Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), seeks more equitable ethnic representation in the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly.
He said that the process of constituency mapping should not be left solely to the Election Commission (EC).
“Currently, some rural seats are very large and have more voters than certain sub-urban constituencies. I humbly suggest that your personal (Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg) intervention to address this nagging issue will be one of your greatest legacies,” he said.
He also raised concern over the increasing concentration of political power and decision-making “in the hands of a few who control the purse strings”, noting that elections have become too expensive.
Salang urged both the state and federal governments to consider reviewing political funding mechanisms and undertake electoral reforms to ensure fairer participation.
“We need to have a serious look at political funding mechanisms by the government and possibly even undertake electoral reform.
“Sarawak can propose steps to the federal government to initiate actions to find a resolution to this problem,” he said.
