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AS the deadline for the automatic dissolution of the Sarawak assembly draws near, politicians from both sides of the divide are waging war against each other with mud-slinging and underhanded tactics to derail one another.
Under normal circumstances, this would have been an expected scenario.
However, we are hardly in that situation given the state of affairs the nation is facing now, especially in Sarawak, where cases and deaths due to Covid-19 is spiralling by the minute.
What Sarawak needs now is not political infighting, but political unity to battle the pandemic which has, to date, claimed 224 lives and infected a total of 38,500 people in the state.
The irony is that it is the pandemic that has provided the ammunition much needed by the state’s opposition to try and wrestle power from the ruling Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS).
Their public slugfests are getting very personal, and they are trading accusations freely.
These tirades have gotten more serious for about a week or so now.
Even food aid to the rural poor has become a source of political bickering, while in cities and towns the disbursement of welfare aid to hawkers and food stall operators has also been politicised.
The public slugfests between political parties are getting very personal.”
The GPS coalition governing the state is made up of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP).
Pakatan Harapan (PH) parties namely Sarawak DAP, PKR and Amanah are slamming the ruling party for failing to stem the tide of infections from the pandemic.
GPS on the other hand, have retaliated against PH, in particular DAP, alleging that they are seeking cheap publicity.
Both sides are engaging in constant bickering; their tirades are too many to list down.
It looks like these exchanges will only get worse with the 12th state election appearing on the horizon.
Chief Minister Datuk Abang Johari Openg is now seeking an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the dissolution of the Sarawak assembly.
The current state assembly’s term ends on June 6, which is five years from the date of its first meeting on June 7, 2016, after the state election of 2016.
Disclosing this yesterday, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) secretary-general Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi said the dissolution of the state assembly will be on a date to be decided by the Agong in consultation with Sarawak Governor Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud.
“The current state assembly will end on June 7 and thus will be automatically dissolved.
“In normal circumstances it would have been dissolved for the return of the people’s mandate to democratically elect their (state) government in an election.
“But we are under the Covid-19 pandemic and the emergency until August 1, 2021,” he said.
The state Barisan Nasional (BN), led by former chief minister the late Tan Sri Adenan Satem, won 72 out of the 82 seats up for grabs in the May 7, 2016 state election.
The remaining 10 seats were won by the state Pakatan Harapan.
After the 2018 general election, parties that formed Sarawak BN left to form GPS.
Is Sarawak ready for the polls?
With the emergency set to end on August 1, the question of whether it will be extended or not is a matter to be decided between the prime minister and the king.
According to the Sarawak constitution, polls must be concluded and a result announced within 60 days after the automatic dissolution of the state assembly.
So the question now is also whether the situation in Sarawak warrants an environment that is safe enough for an election to be held.
We, the rakyat, expect our elected politicians and their political parties to pave the way out of the pandemic.”
So far, the pandemic has not shown any signs of relenting and Sarawak politicians are fully aware that the public health situation is very risky.
We, the rakyat, expect our elected politicians and their political parties to pave the way out of the pandemic.
The last thing we want is to see them engaging in political slugfests that do not benefit the rakyat at all.
Sarawak politicians from every side should sit down and agree to an immediate truce and find common ground to cooperate with each other to fight the common enemy and that is Covid-19. – The Vibes, May 16, 2021
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