Letter to the Editor
By Prof Datuk Dr Jayum Jawan
In the run-up to the Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) polls scheduled for this coming October, it is reliably learnt that to contest for the presidency, a party member must secure a minimum of 13 nominations from any of the 38 branches.
Mathematically, this makes for a maximum of two candidates, if each had the minimum 13 nominations. The potential third candidate would fall short of one nomination. But if nominations are split into supporting three or more candidates, then there is a mathematical possibility that this could result in a hung presidency for the top spot.
Overall, there is a strong possibility that there could be a difficulty in any member securing this minimum 13 nominations, including by the incumbent, Datuk Joseph Salang Gandum, as he did not get elected to the position after its founding president, the late Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing, passed on in October 2021.
As deputy president then, he automatically became its acting president. When the 2022 party election came, Salang was handed the presidency, following which the party’s central committee decided that all positions should not be contested to prevent a split. This led to Datuk John Sikie Tayai’s decision to withdraw.
In his first attempt at an open contest to defend his presidency, Salang may find it hard to secure the necessary number because he does not appear to have widespread grassroots support across the divisions or branches. In addition, he does not have the power and patronage that would have allowed him to build his base.
Some members of the party’s branches who were approached said that they do not quite know who Salang is, except that he is the party president. Some members were also hard pressed to enumerate his strengths and what he has accomplished during his short term as president. But then, he is being compared to the charismatic Masing, who is difficult to fault and live up to.
Besides the incumbent, who is expected to defend his presidency, two other names stand out as potential contenders due to their high-ranking positions in government: Dato Sri John Sikie Tayai and Dato Sri Aaron Ago Dagang, who serve as full ministers in the Sarawak and federal administrations, respectively.
John Sikie, 75, is the party’s senior vice president and a former teacher, who is currently in his seventh term as the assemblyman for Kakus. He first contested and won the seat under the Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) ticket in 1991 and subsequently won the seat for the party in two subsequent State elections before continuing to win four more times as a PRS candidate in 2006, 2011, 2016, and 2021. He has been a deputy minister since 2011, before being appointed as a full minister in 2021.
Aaron, 67, is one of four vice presidents and a five-term member of Parliament for Kanowit. He has an undergraduate degree in forestry from Universiti Putra Malaysia and a master’s from the University of Göttingen, Germany. He served in the Forest Department Sarawak for about 16 years before entering politics in 2011 when he was appointed as a political secretary to former Energy, Communication, and Multimedia Minister, Tan Sri Leo Moggie Irok. He first stood and won Kanowit in the 2004 general election after Moggie, who was the founding president of PBDS, retired from active politics.
Another prominent member of PRS with potential to aspire to the presidency is the party’s Women’s leader, Dato Sri Doris Sophia Brodie, aged 65. By virtue of her post as the Women’s chief, she is also one of the party’s vice presidents. She has a bachelor’s in business administration from Kuala Lumpur Infrastructure University (KLIUC) and a certificate in public relations from the Institute of Public Administration Malaysia.
She was a two-term senator from 2010 to 2016 and served as Deputy Speaker of Dewan Negara from 2012 to 2016. She was previously the political secretary to the Premier of Sarawak before creating history as Malaysia’s first Dayak woman parliamentarian after she won in Sri Aman.
Overall, there are gaps in experiences that each would bring into the presidency, regardless of who would eventually win and occupy the top spot. In terms of education, most have their basic degree with modest work experience before coming into politics. Although education alone is not the measure of leadership qualities, it helps in dealing with like-minded and trained leaders of other communities where professional qualifications dominate leaders from other component parties.
Good leaders and effective leadership do not emerge by accident but through a well-prepared and carefully chosen second echelon, trained to carry the struggle forward. It is also about instilling strong values so that when contests for positions arise, the aftermath does not lead to the kind of internal destruction that has historically plagued Dayak political organisations such as SNAP, PBDS, and SPDP.
The basic principle to remember is that leaders come and go, and the show must go on. Much like in farming, it becomes necessary to experiment with new seeds when the old ones no longer yield a good harvest. As standards and expectations evolve, leaders and leadership must adapt to meet emerging needs and aspirations.
Prof Datuk Dr Jayum Jawan is currently a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia and at the Institution of Malay Rulers Chair at UiTIM, as well as an Adjunct Professor of the Institute of Borneo Studies at UNIMAS.
This is the personal opinion of the author(s) and does not necessarily represent the views of DayakDaily. Letters to the Editor may be lightly edited for clarity.
— DayakDaily
