Friday 29 Mar 2024
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This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on April 18 - 24, 2016.

 

FINALLY, ending months of speculation, the stage is set for the 11th Sarawak election battle.

Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem dissolved the state legislative assembly on April 11, paving the way for statewide polls, which are seen as the most significant electoral fight yet for Sarawakians, in general, and Adenan, in particular.

The stakes are simply too high for not only Barisan Nasional (BN) and the opposition in Sarawak but also for Adenan on a personal level. The politician is fighting to gain his first mandate from the people of Sarawak to lead the Land of the Hornbills for another five years. Ironically, the first mandate that Adenan is seeking will also be his last because he has openly made it known that he will only serve as the chief minister for one term.

Of course, his advanced age and health conditions could be the main reasons behind such a decision, but it cannot be denied that it is a rarity in today’s dog-eat-dog political world to have someone like Adenan openly and unreservedly announcing to the world that his first electoral battle as the

commander-in-chief of the ruling coalition is also going to be his last.

Maybe that is why he has been seen as a politician in a hurry since he assumed the coveted chief minister’s post two years ago. Apparently, his ultimate mission during his tenure is to push for the restoration of the state’s powers under the 1963 Malaysia Agreement.

Adenan takes the state’s rights in the Federation of Malaysia pretty seriously. “The relationship between Sarawak and KL is different from that between Pahang, for instance, and KL ... There was no Malaysia to join before the signing of the Malaysia Agreement. We are equal partners in the federation,” he was quoted to have told a national paper in an exclusive interview after taking office.

That explains why Adenan has been rigorously pursuing the restoration of the state’s autonomous powers. According to the 1963 agreement, powers over policies like those governing the state’s health and education sectors were to have been returned to the state administration eventually.

Adenan has since succeeded in getting the federal government to return autonomous powers to the state in several decision-making processes, most notably education.

First, pushing the envelope, his administration became the first state government to recognise the United Education Certificate (UEC) — the Chinese school’s equivalent to STPM. Then, he went even further by declaring the English language the official language of the state. In other words, all correspondence with state offices can now be done in Bahasa Malaysia or English.

On the explosive issues of hudud and the right to use the word “Allah” in the Bahasa Malaysia Bible, which almost tore apart the social fabric of the multiracial and multi-religious society in the peninsula, he broke ranks with his KL counterparts.

He promised: “… we have and will continue to safeguard our rights and autonomy. I will also not compromise on issues that can disrupt the racial and religious harmony of our people. I wish to make it clear that hudud will not be implemented in Sarawak and we should stop harping on the matter now.”

Then he declared that his government would not allow any Bible to be confiscated in the state.

Obviously, all these policies have created waves in the rather complicated Malaysian political landscape. Not many are happy with him, especially on the issues of education and religion. Some in Peninsular Malaysia think he has opened up and pushed ahead too fast for their liking.

Yet, Adenan is enjoying an all-time high approval rating among Sarawakians, according to a public survey. The Sarawak Good Governance Public Opinion Survey, conducted by Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research on 606 respondents, showed Adenan’s popularity rating among the various communities as follows: 82% (Muslim bumiputera community), 74% (Dayak community) and 67% (Chinese community).

Of course, the million dollar question is, will the all-time high approval rating translate into votes in the coming election? The consensus among political analysts is that Adenan’s victory is a foregone conclusion. Even the opposition parties feel the Adenan phenomenon. In fact, they congratulated Adenan on his victory even before the state assembly was dissolved. This is very rare indeed.

But more than anything else, the focus of this election will be the Chinese voters. Their rejection of the man whom they called Peh Mor (the white-haired one) in the 2011 state election caused BN to lose all the urban seats where the Chinese dominate. Adenan is definitely dying to win back some of those seats because, otherwise, his victory, however massive, will not be complete.

Simply put, every vote counts if Adenan is to continue his policies to make Sarawak shine as a beacon of tolerance and moderation. If the Chinese voters spurn him the way they spurned Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the last general election, his wings will be clipped. His bargaining power with the federal government will be diluted and he will be under pressure to backtrack.

In fact, this hard fact of real politics was acknowledged by Najib himself. When speaking at a national level Chinese New Year celebration held at the Sibu Town Square in February, he openly urged the Sarawak voters, especially the Chinese, to back Adenan so that the latter would be in a better position to negotiate with the federal government on things like more development allocations to the state, greater empowerment and so forth, from which the people would benefit.

Make no mistake, this Sarawak election is about Adenan and Adenan alone. It is about his leadership and the bold and drastic changes he has brought to the state, especially in terms of its rights, in the two short years he has been in charge.

And no one can caption this theme better than Sarawak BN Youth chairman Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, who said: “This election is not about Najib. This election is about Adenan.”


Khaw Veon Szu, a former executive director of a local think tank, is a practising lawyer. Opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own.

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