PDP-PSB pact could cause grief in Sarawak coalition

 

PSB president Wong Soon Koh is a former senior SUPP member and his pact with PDP could cause friction, say analysts. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: Sarawak’s ruling coalition, Gabungan Parti Sarawak, may experience internal strife following a decision by a component member to sign a pact with an opposition party.

On July 13, Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) president Tiong King Sing and his counterpart from Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB), Wong Soon Koh, signed a memorandum of understanding to work together for the stability and well-being of the people of Sarawak.

Socio-political analyst Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya said the accord may unsettle coalition member Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) and lead to turmoil between PDP and SUPP.

Wong was a senior member of SUPP until he was sacked in 2014.

Azman said: “If not handled well, their relationship could sour and the two parties could possibly even sabotage one another in the next state election (due by 2026).”

However, James Chin of the University of Tasmania believes the pact poses a greater threat to yet another GPS component, the Dayak-based Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS).

“If anybody should worry about this over the long run, it will be PRS rather than SUPP. It is more of a reconfiguration of Dayak voters, rather than Chinese voters,” he said.

Chin said the PSB-PDP alliance is unlikely to threaten SUPP’s status as the second largest party in the ruling coalition but may push PRS further down the pecking order in GPS.

Last Thursday, Wong announced PSB’s support for both Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Sarawak premier Abang Johari Openg “in the spirit of unity”.

Both Azman and Chin agreed that PSB’s backing would reinforce the dominant position of GPS and would also strengthen its hand within the federal unity government, thereby ensuring “a stable relationship between GPS and Pakatan Harapan at the federal level”.

SUPP president Dr Sim Kui Hian acknowledged that GPS had discussed the collaboration prior to the PSB-PDP alliance being sealed, but appeared unimpressed, saying he was “amazed” by it.

PSB ran against GPS in the 2021 Sarawak elections, winning four of the 82 state assembly seats. It lost one seat after Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How left the party last year.

Originally founded by Wong as the Unity People’s Party after his sacking, the party would go on to enter a pact with SUPP for the 2016 state elections. In February 2019, it rebranded itself as PSB.

Wong, who served for 15 years as Sarawak’s second finance minister, resigned from his state cabinet post in July 2019 citing “hostile relations” between PSB and GPS component parties. - FMT