Sarawak – the next battleground

By Wong Choon Mei

SARAWAK – precious Land of the Hornbills (Bumi Kenyalang) and Malaysia’s largest state – is set to become the next major battleground between the Pakatan Rakyat and the Barisan Nasional.

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim has confirmed what Pakatan leaders in Sarawak have been quietly talking about for the past few months.

“Sarawak will be our next battleground before the Pakatan Rakyat takes over the federal government,” Anwar told a rally during the PKR’s 5th annual congress held over the weekend.

His announcement drew an immediate and sharp rebuke from Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud.

“(Anwar’s) credibilty is not that high when he said Sept 16 is his target date which he promised to be the date to form a new government,” Taib snapped back in reference to the opposition leader’s previously avowed time-line to topple the BN government. He was speaking to reporters after chairing a state cabinet meeting.

Taib, who is also state BN chairman, has governed Sarawak with a first of iron for nearly three decades. Dogged by allegations of corruption and abuse of power, the flamboyant 72-year old is famous for his slicked-back crop of white hair, immaculate dressing, palatial home and Rolls Royce limousine.

Resource-rich Sarawak is due to hold state election in 2011 but there is talk that the date might be brought forward to next year.

“We expect the Sarawak State Assembly to be dissolved by the second quarter of next year. So, it is just six months before the state election, that’s why we are focusing on this,” said PKR
vice-president Azmin Ali.

Winds of change

“The mood and sentiments in Sarawak are now similar to the March 8 general election. There’s so much hope for PKR to make a major breakthrough,” Azmin added.

Indeed just two weeks ago, Gabriel Adit Demong – one of Sarawak’s two independent state assemblymen – joined PKR. The four-term Ngemah assemblyman brought along 12,000 new members to the party.

Including Adit, PKR now has two representatives in the 62-member state assembly. The other is Dominic Ng of Padungan.
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According to Anwar, other Barisan Members of Parliament have also pledged to switch allegiance to the Pakatan.

During the March 2008 general election, the opposition alliance had failed to create the same sort of impact it made in Peninular Malaysia, where it won control of Selangor, Penang, Perak Kedah and retained Kelantan.

“If we had carried Sabah and Sarawak, we would have formed a new federal government. There is still hope for that to happen,” said PKR President Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

Political observers said Pakatan was bogged down by weak organisation in the two East Malaysian states. Funding and the lack of co-ordination in strategic planning and execution were other factors that led to the poor performance, they added.

But that may soon change as the Pakatan trio of PKR, DAP and PAS train their sights on Sarawak and begin wooing the voters there in earnest.

“We will have groups of MPs visiting Sarawak every week,” Anwar promised.