Opposition disunity will hold back Borneo Alliance, say analysts

 

PSB president Wong Soon Koh (left) and Warisan president Shafie Apdal both have ambitions of national leadership, says an analyst.

KOTA KINABALU: Analysts have expressed doubt that the Borneo Alliance, a potential political alliance aimed at uniting opposition parties in Sabah and Sarawak, will ever materialise.

Several analysts FMT spoke to pointed to the disunity among Sarawakian opposition parties and expressed scepticism on whether Warisan would join such an alliance.

Parti Sarawak Bersatu president Wong Soon Koh had recently claimed that Warisan had agreed in principle to work with his party to establish the Borneo Alliance, though Warisan vice-president Junz Wong declined to confirm or deny this.

Council of Professors fellow Jeniri Amir believed that the intention behind this alliance was noble but said it will struggle to even get off the ground because of the fractured nature of Sarawak opposition politics.

“You can clearly see they had a tough time even working together in the recent Sarawak elections,” he told FMT. “They jostled with each other trying to show who was stronger but, in the end, this only caused multiple-cornered fights which served as their downfall.”

Pakatan Harapan could win only two seats at the elections in December, after taking 10 seats at the 2016 state elections.

The ruling Gabungan Parti Sarawak won 76 of the 82 state assembly seats while Parti Sarawak Bersatu secured four.

Some 347 candidates and 10 parties had contested in the state polls, which saw PSB and PH clashing with each other and Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK), Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak Baru (PBDSB) and Parti Aspirasi Rakyat Sarawak, among others.

Jeniri said roping Warisan into the alliance could attract other parties to join the bandwagon, but noted that the Sabah-based party will not gain anything from being in the coalition, because PSB’s ultimate aim was to actually unite all the Sarawak opposition parties against GPS.

Sociopolitical analyst Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya believed that Warisan was more interested in expanding its national influence.

“Joining the Borneo Alliance would mean Warisan and its president Shafie Apdal will be seen as still being Borneo-centric and not in line with their move as a national level party,” he told FMT.

He added that there would be an issue over the alliance’s top leader as Warisan supporters would want Shafie, once touted as a prime minister candidate, to lead the coalition. This would alienate Wong, he said, who is seen to want the position himself.

Universiti Malaysia Sabah senior lecturer Lee Kuok Tiung said a Borneo opposition bloc would be interesting but its biggest dilemma was whether to include or leave out national opposition parties like PKR and DAP.

He said the alliance will also need to justify to voters how it could be a better alternative compared to GPS and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah in the fight to reclaim state rights from the federal government.

Lee added that Sri Aman MP Masir Kujat’s recent decision to quit PSB and support the current government will affect his former party’s credibility as the leading force in the proposed alliance. -FMT