Keeping Umno out of Sarawak

By Pak Bui

Prime Minister Najib blogged about his recent visit to the Bidayuh village of Kampung Pichin in his posting “1Malaysia is Alive in Sarawak”.

Najib praised Sarawak’s multiculturalism to the rafters. He hailed Sarawakians as a ready-made model for his 1Malaysia sales pitch. But most Sarawakians consider this laughable.

Najib’s 1Malaysia chit-chat sits uneasily with his divisive 2PerakMB constitutional vandalism, mass arrests of peaceful demonstrators, and unrelenting impoverishment of the people of Sarawak and Sabah.

The PM boasted in his blog that he had followed in his father Tun Razak’s footsteps in Serian. This was unadorned irony. Najib has big boots to fill indeed. Abdul Razak was the Father of Racial Politics, the most vociferous Umno proponent of “Ketuanan Melayu”. In May 1969, Razak staged a bigger putsch, within Umno and the Cabinet, than Najib has ever managed in Perak.

Umno in Sarawak

The Malaysian Insider’s view on Najib’s posting was that race relations in Sarawak are relatively unblemished, only because Umno has failed to gain a foothold in Sarawak’s politics.

There is some merit to this argument, although Umno would find it more difficult to manipulate race relations in Sarawak than it has done in Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia.

Sarawakians have not allowed indiscriminate immigration of new Umno constituents, unlike Sabahans. Sabahans Mustapha Harun and Harris Salleh opened the floodgates for migrants with an affinity for Umno, facilitating UMNO’s dominance. Sarawak’s ethnic mix does not provide a strong Umno support base.

Even so, Najib’s shaky position as Umno President makes him hanker for more Umno MPs. Each Umno MP in Sarawak would head a new Umno division, to bolster Najib’s support in his divided party.

Repeated rumours of Umno moving into Sarawak have fizzled out in the past. Umno flags have fluttered in Petra Jaya, Kuching and atop Canada Hill, Miri, at intervals, only to vanish soon afterwards.

In 2006, Bernama reported that Affendi Jeman, leader of a self-styled Sarawak Umno Pro-Tem Committee (JPUNS), had been bragging that JPUNS had recruited 100,000 Umno members in Sarawak.

Umno’s Secretary-General, Radzi Sheikh Ahmad, and Parti Pesaka Bumiputera (PBB) Deputy President Abang Johari Openg both denied an Umno move.

These rumours appeared because of conflict within PBB. Like any party, PBB has its own internal schism: Malays in Sarawak resent Taib’s overwhelming control of the state economy. Elite members of Taib’s Melanau ethnic group, including Taib’s own family members, have grown wildly rich, while the majority of Malays remain neglected and poor.

Keeping Umno out

“Keep Umno out at any cost!” is a common doctrine in Sarawak politics. Sarawak BN supporters point at Sabah as a warning.

Umno came to dominate Sabah, after the opposition Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) formed the state government in 1985. PBS was weakened by party-hopping and, like Parti Bangsa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS), had its spirit broken. Both PBS and PBDS begged eventually to rejoin BN.

Umno’s takeover accelerated Sabah’s loss of autonomy. Successive Umno governments have worsened Sabah’s economic inequality and immigration woes.

The Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP), formerly a BN component party, made an unprecedented call a year ago for a vote of no-confidence in the BN Federal Government.

SAPP said unless there was a regime change, “unfair federal laws, excessive taxes and structural imbalances in the economy will remain entrenched. Sabah will remain the poorest state subservient to the central leadership.

“Labuan bridge, poverty eradication and rural development will remain elusive. Racial politics and wasteful monopolies will continue as usual.

“The illegal immigrant problems will reach boiling point. Grown up street kids, illicit drugs and crimes will continue to strike fear among the people. Police and law enforcement will remain understaffed and under-resourced.

“In other words, Sabah will lose out badly again.”

SAPP were right.

Scare tactics

Sarawak BN supporters warn us that Umno will invade Sarawak if Taib does not win convincingly in every election. Then, they say, Sarawak will be under the thumb of Peninsular Malaysia, and lose our ability to determine our own future.

Let us examine the strength of this proposition.

Firstly, Umno is not some demonic incarnation, to be wheeled out every election to scare voters into electing Taib. Umno is no more than a deeply flawed political party with a racist agenda, no different from PBB, or SUPP.

Secondly, Taib has no credibility as a champion or defender of Sarawak’s interests against Umno.

Taib, his family and his associates have enjoyed far greater control over Sarawak’s economy in 29 years of power, than Umno tycoons have in Peninsular Malaysia in 51 years. The economic results are plain to see. Sarawak remains among the poorest states, despite our vast natural resources.

Umno and national BN work hand-in-glove with Taib and Sarawak BN. This twisted political marriage keeps Taib in power. Umno lets Taib loose to grab land for dams, oil-palm plantations and timber concessions, as long as Taib supplies Umno with enough BN seats to maintain power at federal level.

Umno has never been willing to increase Sarawak’s oil royalties above 5%, in Malaysia’s 46 years of existence. Neither Taib individually, nor Sarawak BN collectively, has ever made an inch of progress in achieving more equitable royalties.

Thirdly, Sarawak BN does Umno’s work in Sarawak. Taib translates Umno’s national policies into reality on the ground, including attempts to divide and rule – in religion, in education, and in cultural domination.

In short, we are already under Umno’s thumb. Taib is simply Umno’s enforcer and revenue collector.

But after March 8, 2008, we live in a different Malaysia. Regime change has become feasible.

If Sarawak BN loses a significant number of its 31 Parliamentary seats in the next national elections, a Pakatan Rakyat federal government will be a viable prospect. Umno would find itself in the opposition, as it did in Perak, Penang, Kedah, Kelantan and Selangor after last year’s elections.

The answer to “How can Sarawakians keep Umno out?” is simple: vote BN out in Sarawak.

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