S'WAK POLLS Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali today reiterated he will proceed to try and re-enter Sarawak on May 4 without writing an appeal letter as requested by incumbent chief minister Adenan Satem.

"Why should I appeal? It is my right as a citizen of Malaysia to travel around the country.

"Adenan's request is just a sign of his arrogance. This is an insult to a parliamentarian, to Malaysians' right to move around the country," Azmin told reporters this morning, when met after officiating the Malaysian Trade Unions Congress (MTUC) May Day rally at its headquarters in Subang Jaya.

Adenan, through a statement from his office yesterday, had expressed willingness to consider extending the entry permits for both Azmin and DAP secretary-general and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

Azmin yesterday responded saying Adenan was disrespecting the offices of the menteri besar and chief minister of a Malaysian state.

Azmin and Lim both arrived in Sarawak on Friday to find that their entry permits stated that they can only remain in the state for a limited number of days, before the Sarawak elections.

Azmin must leave by May 2, while Lim's permit is until May 5th.

On Adenan’s insistence over Sarawak’s autonomy, the PKR deputy president said the autonomous powers should have been exercised on other issues, such as implementation of the goods and services tax.

“The ones who have betrayed the people of Sarawak are not (from) PKR but the 25 Sarawakian BN MPs who supported the GST in Parliament.

“This is why I have said, they (Sarawak BN) will ask for votes but after they win, they betray the people and leave them to suffer,” he claimed.

Meanwhile, PKR president Wan Azizah Wan Ismail was allowed entry into Sarawak but her trip is also limited until May 5, like Lim.

The opposition leader was previously on the no entry list.

'Focus on Najib'

PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli, in his own appeal letter to Adenan, had quipped that he would only focus his criticisms on Najib and the federal government.

Sarawak, which has its own immigration laws, normally grants a 90-day visa for visitors from the peninsula.

However, the state reserves the right to bar entry to anybody and limit the number of days it allows visitors.

The state immigration authorities have banned a long list of opposition politicians, as well as one or two linked to Umno.

Adenan had previously said that those denied entry could jeopardise the harmony in Sarawak.

The opposition, however, has accused the chief minister of preventing them from carrying out legitimate political activities, as enshrined under the federal constitution.