KUCHING, Aug 17: Sarawak remains being sidelined in Malaysia’s political arena as local politicians are still taking orders from Malayan leaders.
In stating this, Sarawak People’s Aspiration Party (Aspirasi) president Lina Soo said the political happenings in Malaya only showed how little Sarawak mattered in Malaysia politics where it has never been consulted prior to any major political moves.
“What is even more dismal is, Sarawak political leaders are quiet and muted except for the odd outburst of producing a statement or two to support ‘bestfriend’ United Malays National Organisation (Umno),” she said in a statement today, with reference to the aftermath of the recent resignation of the eighth Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
She held that Sarawak has had a long history of defending its sovereignty going way back to the anti-cession era of 1940s.
Citing former Governor Tun Ahmad Zaidi Adruce and first Chief Minister Tan Sri Stephen Kalong Ningkan who were strong nationalists in the 1960s, she said they both stood tall to defend Sarawak sovereignty.
She also cited the former Chief Minister Pehin Sri Adenan Satem who proclaimed July 22 as Sarawak Independence Day public holiday in 2016, as a exemplary figure who fought hard for Sarawak.
“Today, Sarawak has not learnt its lesson after 58 years of federalism. Sarawakians continue to embrace Malaya political parties and its ideology of Ketuanan Melayu and in the process, we have lost our economic, political and religious spaces.
“If we were to be more independent and critical thinkers, we would have adopted a pragmatic approach in self-reliance and resilience to establish our pathway to political maturity and self-determination,” she stressed.
To her, the relationship between the State and the federal was more akin to feudalism than federalism where Sarawak politicians tak orders from Malaya party bosses to serve as local chieftains and feudal lords in their territory.
“No Sarawak politician would dare stand eyeball-to-eyeball with his Malayan counterparts since the days of Stephen Kalong Ningkan when a constitutional crisis was orchestrated to bring his downfall.
“Malaysia politics still treat Sarawak as ‘fixed deposit’ and as an after-thought. Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) may beat and thump its chests in Sarawak to impress its people, but the fact remains that GPS is still beholden to federal politics and tied to the apron strings of UMNO. Kingmaker it definitely is not!” she said.
She added that it would take political courage and guts to say ‘no’ to political bosses who have brought much grief to Sarawak by robbing it of its revenue especially oil and gas, which its people need for development.
“True independence for Sarawak requires commitment, critical thinking and the nationalist sentiments of the rakyat to rally around our own pathway to self-determination. Hopefully this day will come soon before the situation gets beyond redemption and deliverance,” she said. — DayakDaily
