SNAP – friendless and alone

Political analysts in Sarawak and peninsula have written off Sarawak Nasional Party.

KUCHING: Going into its triennial general assembly (TGA) and presidential polls tomorrow, Sarawak’s oldest party which gave the state its first chief minister in Stephen Kalong Ningkan stands isolated and alone.

Local analysts and political observers here and in the peninsula have written off the 48-year-old Sarawak Nasional Party (SNAP).

SNAP, they say, will “never rise to its former glory”.

The weekend will also see a contest for the president’s post.

Fighting to take over the reins and redeem SNAP’s lost credentials are supreme council member Michael Lias and secretary-general Stanley Jugol.

Said political analyst James Chin: “The party is basically finished. It’s the end of the road. It has a branding issue with funding as its biggest problem.

“Previously, it was funded by a top leader who was financially strong. But the current leadership is facing financial constraints.”

According to Chin, a lecturer with Sunway Monash University, before the April 16 Sarawak state election, there was hope that SNAP could revive itself.

“There was expectation of SNAP winning some level of support in the polls.

“But the result has basically shown that the party is not relevant anymore,” he added.

‘Court battle weakened SNAP’

According to Bernama, out of the 672,667 (68.66%) registered voters who cast their votes in the April 16 polls, SNAP, which contested 26 seats, garnered only 15,663 votes (2.33%).

The party, it noted, had failed to win any seat with most of its candidates losing their deposits.

It quoted political analyst Jeniri Amir, of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, as saying that SNAP’s deregistration in 2002 had taken its toll on the party.

The party, which was formed on April 10, 1961, was struck off by Registrar of Societies following a leadership crisis.

The matter was taken to court and last year the party won its appeal.

“The eight-year court battle was long and further weakened the party. Because of the deregistration, it lost its grassroots support.

“That’s why the party lost badly in the state election,” said Jeniri.

He, too, feels the party has no more future in Sarawak politics.

The party, he said, has lost its appeal, especially among the Ibans as other Dayak-based parties were enjoying much more support.

BN won’t want SNAP

But there are some analysts who are a little more optimistic.

They believe that the best option for SNAP now is to transform its leadership, reorganise all its branches and reactivate its youth and women’s wings.

But whether this will be enough is another issue

Some 60 delegates are expected to discuss SNAP’s direction during the TGA beginning tomorrow.

On their minds will also be the question of whether to return to the Barisan Nasional’s fold, stay independent or throw their lot with opposition coalition Pakatan Rakyat.

Their ties with Pakatan soured in the run-up to the April 16 state election and going independent will require extremely strong finances.

Returning to BN may seem like an option but Institute of East Asian Studies’ political analyst Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi thinks that it is an option that does not exist for SNAP.

He is of the view that BN will not want SNAP now that it is clear that the party is weak.

The state polls results were revealing and BN would not want to carry unnecessary baggage.

“Sarawak BN will only want a party that is competitive and stable, with a respected leadership.

“But at the moment, the party does not have that much-needed character,” he told Bernama.