Borneo alliance? It’s all talk and old news, says activist

 

A Parti Sarawak Bersatu leader says his party and Warisan have held informal meetings to form the Bornean Alliance to face the next general election.

PETALING JAYA: An activist and a political analyst have poured cold water on a potential political alliance among Sabah and Sarawak parties, labelling such talk as “old news” and “premature”.

Movement for Change Sarawak founder Francis Paul Siah said the talk about “a Borneo alliance” had been going on for “20 to 30 years”.

“It is nothing new,” he told FMT. “I have heard of a Borneo alliance for a long time and there are so many groups talking of the same agenda, but none really came together for a singular purpose.”

Last week, Parti Sarawak Bersatu presidential council member See Chee How revealed that his party and Warisan had held preliminary informal meetings to form the Bornean Alliance to face the next general election.

Francis Paul Siah.

He said such an alliance was important to bring Sabahans and Sarawakians together and it could give voters an alternative now that Warisan was receiving an encouraging response in Peninsular Malaysia.

But Siah said there had been no definite or specific objectives on the formation of any alliance between Sabah and Sarawak politicians.

He said that for any real, meaningful alliance for Sabahans and Sarawakians to work together, there must be common ground, specific goals, and most importantly, a unifying factor.

Siah questioned the capabilities of Parti Sarawak Bersatu and Warisan and said they were only small parties in their home states.

“It is difficult to be optimistic about this especially when politicians are involved. Politicians will never reach a consensus. We only know that too well.”

Siah noted that the only thing that had been successful between Sabah and Sarawak were the constitutional amendments based on the Malaysia Agreement 1963.

He said for anything constructive to take place between the two states, it had to involve individuals, civil society or the state governments.

Political parties should not be involved, Siah said. “We are now jaded with politicians and political parties. Sabahans and Sarawakians also do not really trust or look up to politicians these days.”

Anantha Raman Govindasamy.

Universiti Malaysia Sabah associate professor Anantha Raman Govindasamy said it was premature to discuss the informal meetings between PSB and Warisan to form the Bornean Alliance.

“What is more pressing at this stage is that these parties should focus on strengthening their position in Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.

He added that a similar idea was once mooted by Jeffrey Kitingan under the so-called United Borneo Alliance in 2012 ,but nothing had come of it.

Anantha said the proposed alliance would be significant if the parties had a clear mandate from the people of Sabah and Sarawak. “At this point, I don’t see that happening, especially for PSB.” - FMT