Anwar Ibrahim has just announced a ‘peace deal’ for Sabah. And that is good, especially when this ‘peace deal’ includes Sarawak as well. Now they are on the right track and I can only say well done.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER | Raja Petra Kamarudin
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER | Raja Petra Kamarudin
I have said this before so many times. Whomsoever wants to form the federal government must first win enough parliament seats in Sabah and Sarawak. Sabah and Sarawak, combined, control 56 of the 222 seats in parliament. This is significant and therefore puts these two East Malaysian states in a unique position of being the ‘kingmakers’ of Malaysian politics.
And this is never going to change because Sabah and Sarawak will always control 25% of the seats in parliament. Whenever the government increases the number of seats in Peninsular Malaysia they would also have to proportionally increase the number of seats in Sabah and Sarawak to ensure that these two East Malaysian states will continue controlling 25% of the seats in parliament.
Now, this does not mean that Sabah’s and Sarawak’s population is 25% of the entire population of Malaysia. So there are many instances where the number of voters in the rural seats would be a fraction of that in the big city seats. It is not uncommon to see more than 100,000 voters in the big city seats and you will need four or five rural seats to match one big city seat.
Therefore, the opposition neglects the rural seats, in particular those from Sabah and Sarawak, at its own peril. The opposition may win half the seats in Peninsular Malaysia, which it is certainly able to do, but as long as it does not win enough seats in Sabah and Sarawak it will never be able to march into Putrajaya.
What I have also said before, many times, is that the East Malaysians resent political domination from West Malaysia. Sabah for Sabahans and Sarawak for Sarawakians is the battle cry in East Malaysia. You have to allow the local East Malaysians to lead the charge in Sabah and Sarawak. It is no good if a hot shot from Kuala Lumpur goes down to the ground once every few months to rally the forces there.
Parti Keadilan Rakyat thought it could run the show and call the shots from Kuala Lumpur. This is just not on. And by sidelining the locals and appointing leaders from Kuala Lumpur to head the operations in Sabah and Sarawak is political suicide.
Up to yesterday I discounted any possibility of Pakatan Rakyat ever being able to form the next federal government. This is because I had already written off Sabah and Sarawak as non-starters. By sidelining the locals and by appointing leaders from Kuala Lumpur to head Parti Keadilan Rakyat in Sabah and Sarawak meant it would be a long time before we will see Barisan Nasional ousted from Putrajaya.
But now that appears to have changed. It looks like someone has whacked the heads of the Parti Keadilan Rakyat leaders with a heavy sledgehammer and now they have woken up from that dream they were in -- their dream, no doubt, but our nightmare for sure.
Anwar Ibrahim has just announced a ‘peace deal’ for Sabah. And that is good, especially when this ‘peace deal’ includes Sarawak as well. Now they are on the right track and I can only say well done. At last Anwar is listening to the voices on the ground. And this can only be good news for the fight for change.
Dr Jeffrey Kitingan has now been put in charge of Sabah and Sarawak while Thamrin Jaini is being retained as the Sabah chief with Christina Liew as his deputy. This compromise has neutralised the confrontation of the last couple of months over the leadership for Sabah, which threatened to split the party down the middle.
Anwar Ibrahim, in an exclusive interview with Malaysiakini, announced the appointment of Dr. Jeffrey as PKR’s vice president in charge of Sabah and Sarawak with responsibility for drawing up a master plan to develop the two states and to prepare for the coming general election.
Anwar said he recognises the unique circumstances under which Sabah and Sarawak joined the Federation. “As a nation it is regrettable that we have at times failed to live up to the spirit and ideals of The Malaysia Agreement of 1963 which outlined the rights of Sabah and Sarawak. It is one of Keadilan’s key objectives to restore the dignity and position of Sabah and Sarawak and uplift from poverty its many diverse people. I therefore urge all parties to turn the page on divisiveness, pettiness and work together with a renewed commitment to unity and justice,” elaborated Anwar.
Dr Jeffrey hailed Anwar’s announcement and said that he (Anwar) has gone to extraordinary lengths to achieve a deal to unify disputatious factions in Sabah. “He unified the opposition in preparation for the last general election and now he has done the same within one critical wing of his own party that was threatened with needless division,” said Dr Jeffrey.
Is it too early for me to say that I finally see some light at the end of the tunnel? I just hope that that light at the end of the tunnel is not a fast train coming in our direction. Anyway, let us be positive about this although I would not pop champagne just yet. Nevertheless, it is still good news as far as I am concerned and, again, well done Anwar!
And this is never going to change because Sabah and Sarawak will always control 25% of the seats in parliament. Whenever the government increases the number of seats in Peninsular Malaysia they would also have to proportionally increase the number of seats in Sabah and Sarawak to ensure that these two East Malaysian states will continue controlling 25% of the seats in parliament.
Now, this does not mean that Sabah’s and Sarawak’s population is 25% of the entire population of Malaysia. So there are many instances where the number of voters in the rural seats would be a fraction of that in the big city seats. It is not uncommon to see more than 100,000 voters in the big city seats and you will need four or five rural seats to match one big city seat.
Therefore, the opposition neglects the rural seats, in particular those from Sabah and Sarawak, at its own peril. The opposition may win half the seats in Peninsular Malaysia, which it is certainly able to do, but as long as it does not win enough seats in Sabah and Sarawak it will never be able to march into Putrajaya.
What I have also said before, many times, is that the East Malaysians resent political domination from West Malaysia. Sabah for Sabahans and Sarawak for Sarawakians is the battle cry in East Malaysia. You have to allow the local East Malaysians to lead the charge in Sabah and Sarawak. It is no good if a hot shot from Kuala Lumpur goes down to the ground once every few months to rally the forces there.
Parti Keadilan Rakyat thought it could run the show and call the shots from Kuala Lumpur. This is just not on. And by sidelining the locals and appointing leaders from Kuala Lumpur to head the operations in Sabah and Sarawak is political suicide.
Up to yesterday I discounted any possibility of Pakatan Rakyat ever being able to form the next federal government. This is because I had already written off Sabah and Sarawak as non-starters. By sidelining the locals and by appointing leaders from Kuala Lumpur to head Parti Keadilan Rakyat in Sabah and Sarawak meant it would be a long time before we will see Barisan Nasional ousted from Putrajaya.
But now that appears to have changed. It looks like someone has whacked the heads of the Parti Keadilan Rakyat leaders with a heavy sledgehammer and now they have woken up from that dream they were in -- their dream, no doubt, but our nightmare for sure.
Anwar Ibrahim has just announced a ‘peace deal’ for Sabah. And that is good, especially when this ‘peace deal’ includes Sarawak as well. Now they are on the right track and I can only say well done. At last Anwar is listening to the voices on the ground. And this can only be good news for the fight for change.
Dr Jeffrey Kitingan has now been put in charge of Sabah and Sarawak while Thamrin Jaini is being retained as the Sabah chief with Christina Liew as his deputy. This compromise has neutralised the confrontation of the last couple of months over the leadership for Sabah, which threatened to split the party down the middle.
Anwar Ibrahim, in an exclusive interview with Malaysiakini, announced the appointment of Dr. Jeffrey as PKR’s vice president in charge of Sabah and Sarawak with responsibility for drawing up a master plan to develop the two states and to prepare for the coming general election.
Anwar said he recognises the unique circumstances under which Sabah and Sarawak joined the Federation. “As a nation it is regrettable that we have at times failed to live up to the spirit and ideals of The Malaysia Agreement of 1963 which outlined the rights of Sabah and Sarawak. It is one of Keadilan’s key objectives to restore the dignity and position of Sabah and Sarawak and uplift from poverty its many diverse people. I therefore urge all parties to turn the page on divisiveness, pettiness and work together with a renewed commitment to unity and justice,” elaborated Anwar.
Dr Jeffrey hailed Anwar’s announcement and said that he (Anwar) has gone to extraordinary lengths to achieve a deal to unify disputatious factions in Sabah. “He unified the opposition in preparation for the last general election and now he has done the same within one critical wing of his own party that was threatened with needless division,” said Dr Jeffrey.
Is it too early for me to say that I finally see some light at the end of the tunnel? I just hope that that light at the end of the tunnel is not a fast train coming in our direction. Anyway, let us be positive about this although I would not pop champagne just yet. Nevertheless, it is still good news as far as I am concerned and, again, well done Anwar!
