Lauding Sng for backing PN, Willie says serving constituents comes first for politicians

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Willie Mongin at the press conference today. – Photo by Rais Sanusi

KUCHING (Mar 2): Julau MP Larry Sng’s decision to quit Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and back the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government will benefit his constituency, said Puncak Borneo MP Datuk Willie Mongin.

The plantations and commodities deputy minister said that with Sng backing the PN government and Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, the government can provide allocations and assistance to Julau constituents.

“Politics is something that is dynamic, and I think that there are benefits for his decision to support the PN government. For me, if he gives his support to the current prime minister and the current government, definitely the government can provide allocations and assistance to the constituents.

“These people are our friends consisting of Iban as the majority there, alongside the Malays and Chinese, and I do not want to see the constituents persecuted,” he told a press conference here today.

He added that if the Julau constituency was still under the Opposition, it would be hard for it to obtain government allocations as well as projects.

“When I was the MP for PH, in the first year we were only given an allocation of RM500,000 (for each Parliamentary constituency). How could I serve a constituency with 218 villages? If you divide the RM500,000 among the 218 villages, (each village) can only get a few thousand ringgit, maybe even a few hundred,” he said.

“This is why some of the (Opposition) MPs decided to support the government. Yes, in politics, you might want to adhere to your pride and principle, but if the people suffer, what is it for? We join politics to help the people,” he said.

Sng, who was PKR Sarawak chairman, had quit the party last week and on Sunday, a Facebook post by Muhyiddin showed Sng and Tebrau MP Steven Choong with statutory declarations in support of PN.

Following the move, Sng said on his Facebook page he had been unable to serve his constituency effectively due to the lack of allocations since he was part of the Opposition.

Sng said that his decision to resign from PKR had received the blessing of his constituents, adding that there had been too much political instability over the past one year which had damaged the country’s economy and the people’s well being.

Meanwhile, Willie said the PN government was caring towards the people, adding that many projects that were cancelled by the former Pakatan Harapan (PH) government were reinstated.

He added that they would benefit the people in terms of employment opportunities and in keeping the nation’s economy moving.

“I have been lucky because I have been through two eras of (federal) administration that is the PH government and the PN government. I admit that each government has their strengths and weaknesses but the PN government shows its diligence in service to the people,” he said.