by NOOR SYAHHIRA HADY & NEVILLE TIMOTHY SANDERS
KUCHING: Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) is expected to lead in this 15th general election (GE15). It is only a matter of how many seats the ruling coalition is able to win.
As a coalition contesting in all 31 parliamentary seats in Sarawak, many are saying that GPS has the upper hand compared to the opposition parties.
In this GE15, GPS will be facing off against seven parties and independent candidates.
The New Sarawak Tribune spoke to Francis Paul Siah, a veteran editor and founder of the Movement for Change, Sarawak (MoCS) to get his views on the final lap of the election in Sarawak.
New Sarawak Tribune: In your opinion, who has the upper hand in GE15 in Sarawak?
Siah: It is a foregone conclusion that GPS with its electoral clout will do very well. Also, Pakatan Harapan (PH) in Sarawak has been considerably weakened this time, unlike in 2018.
Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) in Sarawak is a pale shadow of its former self. Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s boys in Sarawak will need more time to recover and regain its strength after its acrimonious internal struggle post 2018. Amanah is not expected to win any seat. Neither will the local opposition parties.
DAP is the only PH party in Sarawak which will give GPS a good fight in the urban areas. I believe that DAP will be able to retain three of its six seats, losing three to a resurgent SUPP, possibly in Sibu, Sarikei and Miri.
Against this backdrop, I believe GPS will be able to win around 25 to 27 seats. Apart from the DAP, GPS could also lose one of two seats to Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) and Bersatu as their candidates are incumbents and seasoned campaigners.
Whatever it may be, GPS will definitely win more than the 19 seats it secured in GE14.
What are your views of SUPP today? Will it perform better than in GE14?
I have mentioned a “resurgent SUPP”, thanks largely to the efforts of the party leadership helmed by its president Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian and secretary-general Datuk Sebastian Ting.
I must say that the SUPP today is not the SUPP, say 15 years ago. It is no longer viewed as a party of and for Chinese towkays. There is a more grassroots feel to the party today.
Also, you do not hear of SUPP leaders involved in power abuse and corruption today. This is very important. We all hate corrupt leaders. We have seen enough of them in West Malaysia.
Many of the top SUPP leaders work very hard for the people. For example, Dr Sim’s working hours is from 7am to 1am, as he has told me. He sleeps 5-6 hours a day. That’s exemplary leadership.
Happily, the younger party leaders like Michael Tiang, Wilfred Yap, Tan Kai, Kho Teck Wan etc are learning fast and have also been on the ground regularly to attend to the needs of the people.
Like I’ve mentioned earlier, for this GE15, it’s not impossible for SUPP to win three more seats in addition to retaining Serian.
SUPP has to be represented at federal level because it needs to regain its standing and respect as Sarawak’s oldest political party and one which has always played a major role in the federal government.
What do you think of the campaign done by GPS so far, considering that they are contesting in all 31 seats?
Of course, those seats, particularly the Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) seats are all “safe and sound”. PBB is such a strong and vibrant party and being the backbone of GPS, it has to do well.
I also think that the Chinese voters in PBB areas are also supportive of the party as well for a variety of reasons.
GPS has been doing quite well in Sarawak and I’ve noticed that the “subtle withdrawal” from Malaya by GPS and by not being overdependent on Putrajaya has earned a lot of support from Sarawakians.
Like Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg declaring that “Sarawak has the money, we do not have to wait for Malaya” or Dr Sim stating that “we build our hospitals first, then claim back from Putrajaya” – these are decisions and actions which are welcomed by Sarawakians.
Let us, Sarawakians, be grateful too that for the past three years, there is political stability in Sarawak while over in Malaya, it is only chaos and unending politicking.
Moving on to the federal level, who do you think will likely win and form the new government come Nov 19?
This is a lot of uncertainty at the federal level. As of today, analysts and pundits have pointed to PH as the coalition likely to win the most number of seats.
The question is: Can they form the government?
I would like to see PH forming the next federal government with Sarawak and Sabah parties. But I doubt that is going to happen.
In my article in Malaysiakini recently, I have suggested to PH to start courting GPS and GRS of Sabah if they are really serious about forming the federal government.
So far, only PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli has mentioned that PH is keen to collaborate with Sarawak and Sabah. There was silence from the rest.
I wonder whether other PH leaders are keen to work with Sarawak/Sabah parties or do they think they are able to win GE15 on its own without the support of others. Well, we will see.
But let me say this: If PH, despite winning the most number of seats, is still unable to form the government on Nov 19, then I will exclaim, “it’s your own folly, Anwar and the rest, you deserve what you get”.
Then, we will also know on the night of Nov 19 why Anwar will never be prime minister.
No one in PH should blame GPS for doing things its way. PH has to learn not to be so arrogant and respect a kingmaker. But will PH ever learn?
