KUCHING: After the Opposition raised the issue of a Dayak chief minister on the campaign trail, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) broke its silence, saying the appointment should be based on merit and not on ethnicity.

       On the eve of polling day, GPS secretary-general Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi said the position should be given to a person based on merit, leadership qualities and administrative abilities.

       He warned those who called for a Dayak to be made a chief minister against stoking racial sentiment.

       Without looking into his ethnic background, Nanta said that a chief minister must be one with wide experience and able to shoulder such responsibilities.

       “This is a game played by the Opposition, especially Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) and the DAP.

       “In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with such an appointment, but is there a candidate in PSB or DAP who is a Dayak and is chief minister material?” he added.

       The Dayak community is a non-Muslim indigenous group.

       Nanta pointed to opposition candidates in the state constituencies in his Kapit parliamentary area and asked if there was any from the Dayak community who was credible enough for the position.

       “I must apologise, I do not have the intention to be mean, but I must stress that a chief minister candidate must be one who is truly qualified for the post,” he said.

       The three state seats in the Kapit parliamentary constituency – Pelagus, Katibas and Bukit Goram – are seeing keen contests among candidates mostly from the Dayak community, irrespective of party.

       He said GPS had a qualified and experienced leader representing the Dayaks who had served in both the federal and state governments.

       “Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah is the most qualified person if the Dayak community wants to push for the next chief ministership,” Nanta said.

       PSB had said that it would ensure a Dayak be appointed as chief minister if the party was given strong support by the community to win the state election, pointing out that it had been 51 years since one helmed the state leadership.

       The DAP has said there would be no new and improved future for Sarawak until the Dayaks could once again envision one of their own in the chief minister’s post.

       The first chief minister from the community was Tan Sri Stephen Kalong Ningkan who held the post from July 1963 to September 1966.

       Following that, the post went to Datuk Seri Tawi Sli who held the office until July 1970.

       Since then, the post has been held by a Melanau/Malay leader including Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud and now Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.