“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana
Here we go again! We, the grassroots are not surprised by this development.
Most of the people whom I talked to didn’t seem surprise at all with this development.
History is repeating itself once again as far as Dayak politics is concerned!
Now, let me take you back to the beginning.
Before Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS), there was the Sarawak National Party (SNAP). SNAP managed to politically consolidate the Dayak support behind one party. And then, came PBDS in 1983.
PBDS was established because it strongly felt that SNAP, of which many of PBDS members were part of, had failed to fulfil the aspirations of the Dayak community, the majority of whom were residing and still is located in the rural areas.
After more than 20 years, PBDS was forced to exit politics. Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) entered politics and claimed to be better than PBDS in terms of representing the Dayaks interests.
PRS was formed in 2003 because of the battle for the party leadership top position between two major factions within the party, which resulted in the de-registration of PBDS in 2004.
PRS was formed in 2003 and contested in the 2006 state election and won all the seats contested and more.
Now, this is where it is interesting.
The same issue facing PBDS earlier, which resulted in the formation of PRS, is confronting PRS today.
Coming back to the issue at hand, the Dayak grassroots have been anticipating this move, since the removal of Datuk Joseph Entulu Belaun (ex-MP of Selangau) and William Nyallau Badak (ex-MP from Lubok Antu) in the last general election from PRS for challenging the party’s decision, which saw the historical defeat of Barisan Nasional led-government.
Entulu has been assiduously going to the ground galvanising support from the grassroots in Selangau to join his fight. Most of the PRS members – at least those who are close to the top leaders – thought that removing Entulu would end his political career. Well, he proved them wrong!
Entulu Belaun still has a few tricks up his sleeve. He is not done yet!
It is not so funny, come to think of it.
Have the Dayak leaders forgotten how it all began? PBDS was born as a result of Tan Sri Datuk Amar Leo Moggie’s failure to wrestle the party leadership top position from Datuk Amar James Wong.
Similarly, the same thing occurred in PBDS and PRS.
PRS was established as a result of a power struggle between the late Datuk Seri Daniel Tajem and Tan Sri Dr James Masing.
The irony is, a similar pattern can be observed in PRS. This time around, it is a struggle between Entulu (who was then the deputy president) and Masing (who is the current president). History has a tendency to repeat itself in this situation.
The PRS president labelled the move made by the members who frogged to another party an ungrateful act. He is frustrated by the belligerent act of the few.
He further appealed to the rest of the party leaders to be grateful to those who have worked hard to help them get where they are in life, and in this case, in their current positions.
A lot of Dayak scholars or academics alike portray the political disunity among the Dayaks as a Dayak dilemma. For example, Joseph Tawie’s book, ‘The Broken Shield: The Dayak Dilemma’, vividly described the Dayak political drama at its best.
Have the Dayak leaders not learned anything from these experiences?
They seem to have a knack of forgetting the past and repeating the same pattern of behaviour over and over again.
The Dayak grassroots, in general, are tired with this political charade!
Most of the Dayak grassroots are beginning to lose faith in the Dayak leaders’ ability to fight for their cause.
Some, in the case of Selangau, has decided to vote for an outsider who is not an Iban to demonstrate their frustration towards their leaders, whom they have staunchly supported and stood by all these years.
Are they (Dayak grassroots) being ungrateful? Perhaps.
Can we consider their action – voting for a non-Iban and an outsider – as belligerence? Maybe.
But before we point fingers, please look at our history and look at our current predicament. The Dayak grassroots cannot blame other leaders from other parties for their current quandaries.
Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB), another party that claims to represent all races in Sarawak, came into being and the resignation of MP Datuk Masir
Kujat from PRS, who then joined, has surprised everyone, so we are all made to believe.
PSB is a splinter party from Teras, formerly known as United People’s Party (UPP) led by Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh. With three ‘belligerent’ former PRS leaders joining PSB, PRS has to gear up for the bumpy road ahead. PRS leaders also appealed to Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg to expel
PSB leaders from the state cabinet.
Will the Chief Minister intervene?
The Chief Minister has a
lot on his plate at the moment. He needs to sell Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) to Sarawakians, especially the sceptics.
The Dayak grassroots are already frustrated with PRS as a party and they are not
enthusiastic about PSB
either.
So, to all Dayak leaders, if you want to continue serving the Dayaks and remain relevant to the people you claim to represent, you have to prove your worth to gain their support once again.
The Dayak grassroots have woken from their slumber and know their power as voters. Can you blame them? These are the people who felt that they have nothing to lose because they have been
disappointed and betrayed time and time
again by their leaders.
To the Dayak leaders in PSB, make sure you learn from past mistakes. To borrow George Santayana words: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Good luck to our Dayak leaders.
- Dr Lucy Sebli is a lecturer and political analyst at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the New Sarawak Tribune.
