COMMENT | Azmin Ali, don’t demean Sarawak's 'Iban warriors'

COMMENT | Don’t expect me to be polite with some of my fellow Sarawakians, especially the disgraced political turncoats who are now "officially" classified as "incorrigible parasites" in my book.

Neither will I mince my words with International Trade and Industry Minister Azmin Ali, the overly-ambitious politician who desperately wants to be prime minister, over what I would describe as his lack of understanding of the Iban community of Sarawak and the warriors they revere among them. Azmin seriously lacks tact on this issue.

On the afternoon of June 5, I posted this message in my NGO group chat: "For any meaningful political change, we have to set a high standard for political leaders.

"I view things from a different angle after a long association with many of them, from both sides, and at an intimate level.

"Even before the state polls, dirty, sleazy deals and horse-trading are being made. After Parliament sat on May 18, some Sarawakian politicians were involved in such deals behind closed doors in Kuala Lumpur.

"These are the same people saying that they are fighting for Sarawak, asking us to vote for them.

"For an NGO like ours to play any meaningful role for change, we have to be more politically conscious and mature in our political views and stand. Do a thorough study into the internal dynamics of politics and the personality of the players," I pleaded.

A few hours later, my concerns over horse-trading were proven to be founded.

At about 7pm, we heard the announcement by Lubok Antu member of parliament Jugah Murang that he has resigned as PKR vice-president to be an independent supporting Perikatan Nasional (PN) and Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

Here we go again. Another political frog from Sarawak. Shame, shame!

The next day, a triumphant Azmin Ali accompanied Jugah to see the prime minister after his bloc had struck another blow on Pakatan Harapan and its allies by successfully engineering another defection from PKR.

Azmin later posted pictures of the meeting on Twitter and congratulated Jugah, calling him an "Iban Warrior". This is where I have an issue with Azmin...