The Sarawak government — formerly composed of four Barisan Nasional (BN) parties and one which is a breakaway from one in the quartet — last week officially rebranded itself under the banner of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) with much fanfare that coincided with the unfurling of its stylised hornbill logo.
While there was an attempt to portray the step as Sarawak striking out on its own path in keeping with a general mood of state nationalism, there is no escaping that the move is almost as much a reaction to a completely changed national political landscape following the unexpected defeat of BN in the May 9, 2018, general election.
Except for the change in the state coalition’s name and symbol, almost nothing else has changed. GPS is still a coalition of four parties with the appendage of an outside “friendly” party.
The new coalition did, however, amend a rule requiring the unanimity of all existing members in any decision to officially admit new members but it remains to be seen if that will solve the problem of accepting any breakaway party from existing members as a new member. The three smaller member parties in the coalition may still baulk at creating a precedent that may well come back to haunt them.
Optics aside, the real business of governing Sarawak will move up in tempo in the new year as Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Abang Openg seeks to deliver on a promise to spend more on improving physical infrastructure state-wide, utilising both accumulated state reserves and expected revenues from a new state oil-and-gas tax.
The new development push is obviously being devised with an eye on the next state election which promises to be a first in several dimensions. It will be the first electoral test for Abang Johari since assuming office following the demise of Tan Sri Adenan Satem two years ago. It will similarly be the first test of the popularity of GPS and one of whether Pakatan Harapan (PH) continues to enjoy sustained and broad nationwide political appeal.
As it is, political skirmishes between the state ruling coalition and Sarawak PH parties are already almost daily occurrences playing out in the local media. These range from Sarawak not taking up the cue from the federal government with the nation-wide ban on smoking in public places, a squall over the state’s share of the tourism tax not being disbursed and even disruptions to the grass-cutting schedules along federal roads in the state.
Amidst expected heightened political disputes in the lead-up to the state election, Abang Johari must be hoping that an over-flowing state largesse — especially if federal budgetary constraints continue to lead to grumblings from local businesses — will spread a feel-good sentiment as it trickles down across the state economy.
The directive from the top of the state leadership is for state tenders to be spread out as much as possible so that even smaller businesses will directly feel the benefits.
While such a policy directive may be laudable, it remains to be seen if the state bureaucratic apparatus is up to the task of effectively implementing it. There is also the concern that with so many major projects to be implemented in so short a time-frame (especially given that the construction of the massive Pan-Borneo Highway is now in full swing), inflated cost structures from shortages of key building materials may be inevitable.
Added to this cocktail of issues is the over-arching one of coming to some broad common understanding, if not full agreement, on a refreshed modus vivendi in relations between the state and federal governments.
Much confusion has arisen from several ideas and concepts being rather carelessly bandied about. These include the idea that some state rights have been taken away, a rather puzzling phenomenon that seems to imply that the state woke up one day to discover some of its “rights” mysteriously gone.
There is also the vague idea that Sarawak was an “equal” partner with Malaya, Sabah and Singapore in the formation of Malaysia and that somehow the federal government today has morphed into representing the collective interests of states only in the peninsula.
A revised agreement on federation is only possible with an acceptance that it is already a partnership of constituent states with clearly spelt-out rights (and obligations) and a federal government with a different but agreed-to set of rights and obligations.
In the current state of political flux, this may prove to be elusive.
The writer views developments in the nation, the region and the wider world from his vantage point in Kuching, Sarawak