How will GPS navigate a new direction for Sarawak?

It was not a total surprise for the four Sarawak component parties to officially announce their exit from BN today as the move was widely expected by many.

Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari dropped the bombshell today saying the four state-based component parties were pulling out from BN effective immediately. The new state-based coalition will be known as Gabungan Parti Sarawak or GPS.

GPS comprises of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), the Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP), the Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP).

PBB leads the pack with 13 seats in the parliament, followed by PRS (3), PDP (2) and SUPP (1). GPS has a total of 19 parliamentary seats while Sarawak Harapan has 12.

University of Tasmania Asia Institute director James Chin said revealed today that the four party leaders were already thinking of exiting BN on polling night itself, May 9.

"When they saw federal BN fall from power, their concern was for the next state election due in 2021. With the BN's brand so toxic, they really did not have a choice," Chin told Malaysiakini.

Another political analyst, Faisal Hazis, agreed with Chin that the four component parties had already thought of quitting of BN last month and their announcement today was just a formality.

"Basically, to them, the most important thing is to safeguard Sarawak interests and to ensure the promise to devolve power would be fulfilled.

"In light of Pakatan Harapan government ruling with a slim majority, any kind of support from Sarawak will be very much welcomed," said Faisal, who is the head of the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (Ikmas) at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).

Faisal pointed out that the move to quit BN by the four could be seen as a move to avoid a political onslaught by Pakatan Harapan in 2021. Although quitting BN will strengthen Harapan at the federal level, GPS wanted to ensure status quo in the state.

"One of the main reasons apart from safeguarding Sarawak interests is that this is a strategy to save their own political careers.

"If not, there will be a whitewash by Pakatan Harapan going into the next state election. Going by the last election results in Sarawak, Harapan was already gaining more momentum in the state.

"The state itself is in need of a total reboot in terms of its political system, the rule of law, the separation between politics and the civil service, the politicisation of development projects. Unless they address all this and introduce reforms, I think the cooperation between Harapan and GPS will be called into question," Faisal (below) said.

'Losing touch'

He further articulated on the inability of the Sarawak parties to reform pointing to political strongman and Sarawak Governor Abdul Taib Mahmud still calling the shots for PBB.

"PBB itself is like a mini-Umno. We've seen how in the last election, people have rejected this kind of elitist politics which Umno and PBB are practising […] it's like a microcosm of Umno itself.

"PBB has increasingly been losing touch with the people on the ground. If they can't reform their own party, what more the whole system in Sarawak? I think this also calls into question the kind of morality that the Harapan government has to face.

"Will Harapan turn a blind eye to all the corruption allegations just because they want cooperation with GPS? They will have to address the elephant in the room," he added.

Chin questioned the nature of the understanding between the Harapan federal government and GPS and how things would proceed.

Noting that GPS will be friendly to Harapan, Chin asked how will GPS support Harapan for some initiatives but necessarily others.

"What does it mean for 2021 (state elections)? Will GPS fight Sarawak Harapan? Are we going back in time?

“Back in 1987, Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) was opposition at the state level but it was also a member of the federal government. Now, we have Harapan as the state opposition but they're holding power at Putrajaya.

"What about the parties wanting to join GPS like United People's Party (UPP)? And Sarawak Harapan is also claiming to stand for the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).

“What happens if Putrajaya says that you can only get back MA63 powers if Sarawak Harapan wins in 2021?" he posed. -Mkini