Cabinet portfolios: No way MCA, says Sarawak BN

MCA is delusional if it thinks it can stroll in under a new leadeship and redeem its four cabinet positions without fuss.

KUCHING: Hours after a news report hit the streets that MCA would seek to fill four cabinet posts following its successful party polls, Dayak leaders are angry at the turn of events.

Sidelined and ignored in the post election cabinet  a bruised Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) has been forced to wait patiently for the next cabinet reshuffle expected next year now that both Umno and MCA have completed their elections.

In a text message to FMT last night, a SPDP insider who declined to be named expressed shock at the news report and MCA’s audacity when the party only delivered seven out of the 35 seats it contested in the May 5 general election.

“We expect MCA to take up the Transport Ministry portfolio and maybe be given another deputy. But that’s all they deserve.

“No way should they get more. We deserve those two seats. He  (Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak) ignored us the last time. We will not keep quiet again,” said the insider.

SPDP contested four parlimentary seats -    and returned victorious.

Likewise its Sarawak Barisan Nasional partner Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), which boasts of having the largest Dayak membership.

PRS won all six parliamentary constituencies it contested in. Together with lead-partner Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), helmed by Chief Minister Taib Mahmud and Chinese based Sarawak United Peoples Party (SUPP), the state contributed 25 MP seats to the federal BN .

But in the post general election cabinet Prime Minister Najib Razak rewarded Taib’s PBB but shortchanged SPDP and PRS to some extend.

PRS president James Masing is equally upset. His party is still seeking an additional ministerial post in the federal cabinet because the “current quota does not commensurate with our contribution”.

Following the GE13, PRS deputy president Joseph Entulu Belaun who is Selangau MP was given a minister’s post in the Prime Minister’s Department.

Party vice president Joseph Salang was also given a deputy minister post in the Tourism Minister but he declined.

Salang felt that he had served long enough as a deputy minister and deserved a minister role.

Said Masing: “It is unfair especially to PRS …we deserve more ..we won all our parliamentary seats.

“MCA won only seven out fo 35 seats contested. The political strength of any party is judged by the number of seats won in the election not by its party membership.”

Political scenario now different
The latest report in a national daily noted that if MCA returns to cabinet it would take up its ‘quota’ of four cabinet positions.

According to the report, if the party takes up the posts the formula would either be two-plus-two or one-plus-three, which translated means two ministers and two deputy ministers or  one minister and three deputy ministers .

Najib left the Transport Minister post vacant for MCA appointing Hishamuddin Hussein as acting minister until the party decided on whether or not to resume its positions in cabinet.

Before the 13th general election in May this year MCA took up its four cabinet posts despite their poor showing in the last election.

Many saw it as a shameless act, leading the party to declare that if it performed badly in the GE13 it will not take up any federal or government positions.

The contentious decision, championed by then president Dr Chua Soi Lek, saw the party divided.

But last weekend MCA’s newly elected president Liow Tiong Lai said the party would convene a emergency general meeting soon to allow delegates to decide on the issue

Political observers are confident that MCA will return to cabinet.

But the political scenario within Malaysia is now no longer the same as before.

Sarawak BN sees MCA, MIC and PPP  as a weak links whose roles and positions are dispensable.

Sarawak and Sabah now see their full  value. Both desire recognition at various levels in their partnership with the federal government.

More so Sarawak than Sabah which lives within Umno pockets.

The awakening

Sarawak has retained much of its independence courtesy Taib – like  him or not.

Taib’s recent firm stand on several matters including the Allah issue,  the terms of the Malaysia Agreement and his open support of the Sarawak’s independence day on July 22  has given him leverage among his people and has put Putrajaya on guard.

In Sabah the awakening has begun.

In the GE13, Sabah opposition inched its way forward taking away three MP seats – Kota Kinabalu, Penampang and Sandakan – and 13 state seats. Two assemblyman from PKR have since defected.

It was an achievement nonetheless considering the chaos within the opposition Pakatan Rakyat pact and local parties STAR and SAPP.