KUCHING: Pakatan Harapan (PH) celebrated the first anniversary of its unprecedented victory during the 14th General Election (GE14) but the excitement that followed has somewhat changed after one year.
The question remains for Sarawak – how much has the new federal government benefitted her citizens through initiatives introduced since the change of administration?
New Sarawak Tribune conducted a poll among state leaders and the public on their thoughts.
Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian opined that people’s lives had not improved.
“Has the price of goods gone down? Instead, it has increased. During a recent check at various shops, small-time traders are complaining that business has dropped by 50 per cent.
“Even an established tyre shop that has been in operation for 30 years had to close up,” Dr Sim claimed.
Jemoreng assemblyman Datuk Dr Juanda Jaya said there was a general feeling that Sarawak was being bullied through the cancellation of development projects and allocations, as the state was an opposition stronghold.
He urged the nation’s new administration to stop playing politics and focus on the development of Sarawak and her citizens.
Pisau assemblyman Datuk Sebastian Ting claimed that the public was disappointed with the performance of the PH government.
“Some said they were disappointed that the promises made in the (election) manifesto were not fulfilled, many U-turns in the policies – ministers announce and then make U-turns. In Sarawak here, we and the public also feel that Sarawak had been marginalised.”
Meanwhile, political analyst Associate Professor Dr Jeniri Amir said, “To be fair, PH cannot be said to be brilliant nor has it been a failure (after one year). A modest performance, maybe six out of ten.”
“In particular, PH is only eligible for B or B minus. There is still room for PH to improve, especially on issues involving the economy and cost of living.
“It is necessary to implement many development projects, not to abolish them, especially in opposition states. It must serve the opposition states in line with the spirit of the Federal Constitution and the federalist system,” he opined.
“PH is often seen to make decisions and statements which then trap itself. In short, they are perceived to make many rounds of U-turns in their decisions. In fact, PH is seen only as a cosmetic change and only cleverly rebranding the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) policies,” said Dr Jeniri.
Tan Kai, a political secretary to the Chief Minister, said there was still plenty of room to improve, especially on how to fulfil the PH manifesto.
“The immediate issue is to overcome the current economic challenge and to reduce the people’s burden.
“As Sarawakians, we are more concerned about oil and gas royalty – it was promised 20 per cent but unable to fulfill this. Another promise that has not been fulfilled is the recognition of UEC,” he said, adding that it was strange that the Sarawak government recognised UEC but the federal government did not.
Jason, who is self-employed, said PH had failed to reduce the cost of living, failed to stabilise oil prices and reintroduced petrol subsidies on a targeted basis, and did not succeed in generalising the minimum wage of the country at the rate it was supposed to be.
“As such, PH has not been able to eliminate the unnecessary debt forced by Felda settlers, failing to defer the repayment of PTPTN loans to all borrowers with less than RM4,000 income per month.
“It just managed to abolish the blacklist policy on borrowers. The promise to introduce the health scheme ‘Skim Peduli Sihat’ by providing RM500 funding for basic treatment at registered private clinics for the B40 has yet to be covered,” he said.
Meanwhile, the findings of the Merdeka Centre provided a reflection of the true sentiment and perception of people throughout the country.
“PH needs to accept the study with open heart and make it as a mirror to see their honest reflection.
“The support level of PH was under 40 per cent as of late March, significantly different from positive support at 79 per cent at the end of May last year, shortly after their victory.
“The sudden decline should not be taken lightly, as it can bring harm to the PH government as evidenced in the three by-elections in Semenyih, Cameron Highlands and Rantau.”
A concern, the recent study found, was that only 34 per cent of the people believed the country was on the right track, compared to 55 per cent in August 2018. The Prime Minister’s popularity also plunged from 76 per cent to 46 per cent this time.
