KUCHING: Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president James Masing has confirmed that Barisan Nasional parties in Sarawak have been issued with a gag order against making political statements in the media.
“We have been told not to make political statements in the press and I must abide by the rules of the game,” he said while declining to reveal the discussions during his party’s supreme council meeting last night.
“I am not going to discuss anything on politics, at least for now.”
Masing could not reveal who issued the gag order and how long it would last.
“Because of that (gag order), whatever political matters discussed among party leaders would be confined to the four walls,” he said.
However, Masing confirmed that the supreme council did discuss political matters “but it’s not for public consumption”.
Apparently, the supreme council discussed a July 2 meeting he had with Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.
“I went to see him (Najib) to discuss political issues but what we discussed is not for public consumption,” he said.
“I do talk with the Prime Minister and Chief Minister (Adenan Satem) on political matters and they know where we stand. So, let’s just leave it at that and there’s no need for me to elaborate.”
He said that his meetings with Najib and Adenan were fruitful.
“This shows that we are always keeping in touch with the state and federal leaders,” said Masing. “It’s wrong for anyone to accuse us of shooting in the dark when in fact we do talk to the leaders.”
PRS insiders have speculated that Masing did not go to see Najib and Adenan of his own accord, but may have been summoned following the war of words among the BN partners on various issues.
It is believed that the recent “merger of minds” accord among PRS, SPDP (Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party) and SUPP (Sarawak United People’s Party) on seat allocation and against Teras entering the BN was also discussed.
It’s not known whether Najib and Adenan held similar meetings with SPDP and SUPP leaders or with Teras.
