Is the collapse of Sarawak BN imminent?

The four component parties of Sarawak BN, led by PBB, are set to exit the coalition and set up their own and despite denials by several leaders.

PBB leaders who spoke to Malaysiakini on the condition of anonymity believe that the matter has been decided and that the announcement on the exit after a Sarawak BN supreme council meeting next week will just be a mere formality.

They reveal that the option for the parties in Sarawak BN to quit the coalition was laid out even before the May 9 polls in the scenario Pakatan Harapan won the election.

"The exit plan has been an option right before the elections and the component party leaders were given some time to discuss the matter with their respective parties before deciding.

"It has been a month since BN's disastrous defeat and the leadership is seen to be slow in making their next move in order to maintain order in the state coalition. There is no other choice but to leave BN," PBB leader told Malaysiakini on the condition of anonymity.

It has been a status quo for the Sarawak BN government led by Abang Johari Openg for the past month despite talk of leaving the BN coalition to form a Sarawak-based coalition between PBB, SUPP, the Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP).

The PBB leader also mentioned that the recent suit filed by Petronas on Petroleum Development Act (PDA) 1974 was possibly a way to test the waters in Sarawak. "The move on the PDA is possibly a way to test Abang Johari's response and when Parliament convenes next month, things may change.

"If Parliament decides to review the Act, the court decision may be placed on hold. All these things have to be decided in Parliament. It does not mean that since Petronas filed this in the courts, things would be affected by the Act as of now," he said.

"Looking forward, it is better to bring this to the federal court and if the court favours Petronas, then the Sarawak government will have to bring this to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to deliberate on how strong are the MA63 and 18/21 points agreements, including the current mineral ordinance," he said.

Meanwhile, Sarawak deputy chief minister and PRS president James Masing (above) declined to comment further on the issue of quitting the coalition.

"The Sarawak BN supreme council meeting has nothing to do with the Petronas suit on the 1974 PDA. What is next for Sarawak will be discussed on June 12. Until the meeting, I will not preempt what are our decision will be," Masing said to Malaysiakini in a text message.

Quit BN scenario most likely

Sarawak BN won a landslide victory in 2016 taking nearly 90 percent of the state seats. The massive victory led by the late Adenan Satem who was the state chief minister saw the coalition taking 72 out of 82 seats. Abang Johari Openg or commonly known as Abang Jo became the sixth chief minister following the death of Adenan on Jan 11, 2017.

Despite the efforts to sway the voters with the pledges covering many areas during the general election, BN lost six parliamentary seats - from 25 seats in GE13 to 19 seats in GE14. This was the worst general election results for Sarawak BN.

The PBB leader who spoke on the condition of anonymity and who is also an assemblyperson, meanwhile, said he felt that his party will eventually suffer the same fate as Umno.

"If this (inaction) continues, it will be similar to Umno where members tried to speak up. But the top leadership of PBB is seen trying to axe the members and everyone is 'tunggu bos la' ((waiting for orders from their superiors). This is what Umno has been practising so far.

"At the last PBB convention and party elections, no contests for the top leadership posts were held. This is not a healthy practice [...] this is similar to Umno because you don't give members a chance to speak their minds.

A PBB youth leader said shared the same sentiment as the assemblyperson.

"The members are very disappointed with the leadership. For members like me, we don't tell the world that we are disappointed but when these things happen, it is the party that is affected," said the PBB youth leader.

"The youth have been voicing out to the leadership but there is not a single response from them till today. When we voice it out to them, they either keep it to themselves or there no further action. 'Sik lalik lah ('don't care' in Sarawak Malay) and 'lantak lah' (not bothered)."

Another BN-friendly party, the United People's Party (UPP), a splinter party from SUPP, acknowledges that BN is no longer acceptable by Sarawakians. George Lo, UPP secretary-general told Malaysiakini that it is very likely the four state parties would leave BN.

"We need to find out a little bit more. At this stage, there is formal decision to quit BN although it is widely reported by the media. We believe that it is inevitable that the four Sarawak BN component parties will leave BN.

"They are meeting on June 12 but I think it is just a formality given all the announcements being made by various parties publicly on how they will actually not survive if they are part of BN," Lo said.

Lo described the four component parties leaving BN akin to putting an old wine into a new bottle adding there was an option for them to be more inclusive and invite other parties to join them.

"As far as we are concerned, we will keep our options open. We will see what happens after June 12 and wait for further announcements. -Mkini