Men should pledge themselves to nothing; for reflection makes a liar of their resolution.
Sophocles, ancient Greek tragedian
2019 has been quite a year for politics.
Here, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) has been under tremendous pressure to perform, which, rather surprisingly, it did pretty well and in the process silenced so many of its critics and detractors.
Naysayers wanted to see GPS fail, but Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg has shown he knows what he is doing and the road he is taking Sarawak on.
He has made GPS a strong and united force – something that has eluded Pakatan Harapan (PH).
Being strong and united is important for GPS because the next state election is not too far away. There is so much at stake, GPS can’t afford to lose Petra Jaya because losing will be the end of Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), the basis of GPS’ struggle against unfettered federalism.
In the national front, PH struggles to present itself as anything but a coalition of hope. The general air of hopelessness in the PH camp got thicker as 2019 gave way to 2020, the year touted by the so-called reformists in the coalition as the year of transition of power.
So is the transition of power going to happen? Will Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad give the premiership to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on a silver platter?
The signs for a smooth transition of power, however, aren’t there; all signs point to an imminent open war as Dr Mahathir tightens his grip on the premiership by manoeuvring his way into Umno, into PAS and into PKR.
A new political alignment is in the works, if Dr Mahathir gets enough MPs on his side, 2020 may see a new government.
Many say Dr Mahathir’s new government will surely be without DAP; I would say, DAP is cut out to oppose, it should quit now and be the opposition party that it has always been. Fellows like Chong Chieng Jen and Violet Yong just cannot help opposing that it appears to be in their blood to oppose, as such DAP, government or not, is a foregone conclusion; it will remain GPS’ enemy.
While DAP does not seem to figure in a Mahathir-initiated political realignment, PKR Sarawak and Baru Bian appear to sync well with Dr Mahathir and Bersatu.
Hardly one month ago, during the PKR convention in Miri, rival camp members were after Baru’s blood and demanding that Anwar tell Dr Mahathir to drop him from the Cabinet.
Anwar didn’t do as his loyalists told him, and Dr Mahathir didn’t drop Baru – apparently for a reason.
Dr Mahathir didn’t say it, but Baru did give a clue when he said on Dec 28 that PKR Sarawak will consider giving way to Bersatu for seats to contest.
By that Baru had just cemented his Cabinet position.
That’s no sheer luck; it was a well-calculated move when the cracks in PKR become more pronounced as Anwar and his deputy Datuk Seri Mohamad Azmin Ali get less secretive about their differences.
Baru looks set to win big from Dr Mahathir’s political chess game, but in the event that PKR does break up where will Baru (and gang) be? Form a new party? Join Bersatu and give Dr Mahathir’s party a piece of Sarawak?
If that happens, Baru can expect no good words from Sarawakians, GPS included, who detest Malaya’s political hegemony of Sarawak.
Besides, the PH government still owes Sarawak on several fronts, Baru is part of that government, for obvious reasons he, more than others, owes fellow Sarawakians an explanation for every unfulfilled PH promise.
And GPS will see to it that these promises will be pursued until they are realised not only because it wants PH to prove it wasn’t lying about what it said it wanted to do for Sarawak but also because there is money in those promises.
PH owes those 5 percent sales tax on exported petroleum products, 20 percent O&G royalty and 50 percent of all taxes collected in the state. GPS need all those to be paid to help finance its development agenda for the state.
GPS wants to deliver and seen to be delivering a comprehensive package to Sarawakians between now and the next state election.
Yes, it is a comprehensive package. It’s not any lop-sided development policy as made out by Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) president Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh when he addressed Bawang Assan folk on Dec 27: “What the GPS government is doing so far is incorrect. Mega projects or projects that do not provide comprehensive benefit to the people should be postponed or cancelled.
“We need to channel all these money for rural development to build infrastructure by connecting all longhouses with roads, and providing water and electricity supplies.”
One, Wong must be seeing Bawang Assan, which he has failed to develop despite being its assemblyman for more than a quarter century since his first election in 1991, to be saying that.
Two, Wong either didn’t know GPS development agenda or he was not telling the truth just so that his listeners, who were rural folk, would feel cheated by GPS.
If he had been truthful he could have told them GPS allocates the bulk of its development funds to rural Sarawak though the Highland Development Agency (HAD), Upper Rajang Development Agency (Urda) and the Northe Region Development Agency (NRDA) that together cover more than 54 percent of Sarawak.
Wong could have told his audience HAD is as big as Johor, Urda is bigger than Pahang and NDRA is the combined size of Negri Sembilan and Melaka.
The state government has allocated more than RM5 billion to these agencies in a bid to make sure that no one is left behind in the state’s push to achieve a high income status by 2030.
Besides, RM4.7 billion has been set aside for electricity and piped water and another RM1 billion for rural telco infrastructure.
In the State 2020 Budget, RM4.1 billion or 63 percent of the development budget was allocated to rural areas, home to only 45 percent of the state’s population.
Postpone or cancel those mega urban projects, Wong said, but he didn’t tell those Bawang Assan folk what those projects are.
Wong forgot to tell them that the hydrogen bus project, for example, is only RM0.0036 billion, therefore is nothing near the RM4.7 billion set aside for rural electrification and water supply.
GPS is an early starter compared to Wong and PSB who appear to be either sleepwalking or playing ostrich, while there is no telling when the power struggle and machination will end in PH; until that happens the all-round bad blood is not making Dr Mahathir’s coalition any stronger.
2020 looks to be a good year if GPS should think of going to the people for a new mandate.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
