INTERVIEW | As the dust settles on the 14th general election, many are already looking ahead to the 2021 Sarawak state polls.
DAP has announced its intention to contest 29 of the 82 seats in the State Legislative Assembly, while Bersatu launched its Sarawak chapter earlier this month.
At the launch, Bersatu chairperson and Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had made clear Pakatan Harapan’s intention to “change the government” in the East Malaysian state.
However, PKR central leadership council (MPP) member Larry Sng believes it will take more than three years for Bersatu to make sufficient inroads into his home state.
“Being a new party, they have many more years to go before they are able to make inroads into Sarawak.
“Sarawakians are quite cautious, there are quite a lot of Sarawak local parties (already). And in the case of PKR and DAP, PKR took 20 years and DAP took longer to establish where they are today.
“So I would not expect any huge gains for newer parties, but being a national-based party, I believe that over time they will be able to convince voters in Sarawak that they can also represent the people there effectively,” he said in a recent interview with Malaysiakini.
In the 2016 state election, BN had won handsomely, sweeping up 72 seats.
The landslide victory was attributed to a wave of support for then-chief minister the late Adenan Satem, who had pushed for greater state autonomy from Putrajaya and ridden on a strong sentiment of “Sarawak for Sarawakians”.
The disintegration of BN after GE14 saw its Sarawak-based component parties breaking away to form a new coalition - Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS).
In the upcoming polls, Sng anticipates that GPS will position itself as a local alternative to Harapan, once again pushing the “Sarawak for Sarawakians” sentiment.
“I think Harapan needs to address this issue and definitely not fight the issue. We need to address it and also bring to the forefront what Harapan can offer to Sarawakians in general.
“What does Malaysia Baru mean for Sarawakians under Harapan?” he said.
Prior to joining PKR, Sng had spent the most part of his 17-year political career at three local political parties - Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and the Sarawak Workers Party (SWP).
The 39-year-old was also an assistant minister in the BN state government from 2004 to 2011.
PKR needs to reach out
Interestingly, in GE14, Sng contested the rural parliamentary seat of Julau as an independent candidate and won against the BN incumbent.
He attributed his upset win to his ability to “build coalitions” with a diverse range of interest groups by virtue of not representing any party.
“We were able to build coalitions among disgruntled groups and among people who are not necessarily opposition supporters as such. We had supporters from BN and from other independent parties as well.
“Had I actually joined PKR (before GE14), I would have narrowed my base,” he said.
Sng joined PKR three days after May 9.
Borrowing from that experience, he opined that PKR needed to start working with groups beyond the party in order to convert its critics and grow its support base.
He added that the party should also be bolder in the next state election and contest in seats which were not its traditional strongholds.
Thirdly, Sng suggested that the party be more “open-minded” when it eventually selects election candidates.
“In terms of our approach to the state election, those who have been there for long and are established in the party need to look beyond their existing party leaders in PKR [...]
“It’s important for the party leadership to be more open-minded in accepting new talent and new members to hold important positions, and to represent the party in the state election as candidates,” he said.
In 2016, PKR had contested 35 seats and won just three - Ba Kelalan, Batu Lintang and Krian.
As for his role, Sng said he would continue pursuing his method of building coalitions but maintained that it was up to the party leadership to determine his official post.
“For me, being a new member of PKR, I have lots to learn. And I am not very ambitious either,” he added.
The only Sarawakian to be elected to the MPP in the recent party election, he had earlier said he was not keen on leading the party’s chapter in the state.
Party president Anwar Ibrahim later announced that Works Minister Baru Bian had been re-elected as state chief. - Mkini
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