KUCHING: The opposition parties in Sarawak have kept negotiating for seats among themselves despite it not being an electoral pact – thus it defeats the purpose of negotiating.
Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) political scientist Prof Datuk Dr Jayum Jawan said many of their negotiations have been reported, but they must realise that they were not an electoral pact. So, these negotiations were unlikely to work or bear any fruit.
“Surely they are (continue) doing this to keep, in the remote possibility that some of them may win a seat or two, to be in play when federal parties negotiate in the process of forming the federal government,” he explained.
Majority of opposition parties in Sarawak, he said, both local and Malaya-based, were seasonal political players, especially when an election was around the corner.
They were formed to resurrect the political careers of some politicians who were formerly with the ruling Barisan Nasional before the latter (BN) changed its call to Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS).
“Many leaders of these opposition parties had lost out in their respective party elections, left their former parties and formed a new splinter party.”
“Besides, there are also parliamentarians who are jumping from one party to another as frequently as the morning tide arrives. They too are negotiating their respective careers and looking to find a platform from which to secure a place to recontest,” he told New Sarawak Tribune.
Jayum, who is also the Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia said all political parties in Sarawak, whether local or from Malaya, have been beaten badly in the last 12th Sarawak state elections. The minor exceptions were PSB and DAP.
However, he opined that there was nothing to be happy about with respect to the performance of PSB that secured only two seats; namely Bawang Assan and Batu Lintang – out of the many it had contested.
Meanwhile, DAP was basically a Malayan party run by local Chinese almost exclusively, played to the Chinese sentiment of the community and has never been widely accepted among non-Chinese in Sarawak.
“DAP has its DUN seats reduced by two-third, from six it won in the 11th Sarawak elections to two in the 12th state polls last year. That is not encouraging for the coming parliamentary elections.
“The rest of the opposition pact lost all including many of their candidates also losing their election deposits,” he said.
Jayum therefore predicted that the 15th parliamentary general elections will not produce a clear winner among any political party or a coalition of political parties in the country.
He said Malaysia will for the second time witness another intense political bargaining among parties to secure past the magic legislative number of 112 to form the federal government.
“And this is where small parties hold sway in the final analysis, to galvanise a weak coalition.
“But if they enter a formal pact, and if they win some seats, the leader of the electoral pact instead of the individual party will hold the little power derived from the seats that they may win,” he added.
He was commenting on Parti Sedar Rakyat Sarawak (Sedar) President Datuk Othman Abdillah’s recent statement that the party will contest in eight Malay-Melanau majority seats in the 15th General Election (GE15) without having to face other Sarawak-based opposition parties.
The eight seats included Santubong, Petra Jaya, Kota Samarahan, Batang Sadong, Batang Lupar, Tanjung Manis, Igan, and Mukah.
He said a mutual decision had been reached by the parties in their meeting on June 21 – to initiate an opposition cooperation pact that will ensure a straight fight in all 31 parliamentary seats in Sarawak.
Othman also claimed that the remaining 23 seats will be divided accordingly between the other four Sarawak-based opposition parties – Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB), Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak Baru (PBDSB), Parti Aspirasi Rakyat Sarawak (Aspirasi), and Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) as mutually agreed.
This was despite the on-going talks between DAP and PSB to avoid GE15 clashes.
Meanwhile, Pakatan Harapan (PH) Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen had also shy away from the reporters regarding the distribution of seats among the component parties and the possible cooperation with PSB – as they were “not ready to comment” further.
