KUCHING, Aug 18 — Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) president Mohamad Sabu said the party has to challenge the perception among Sarawakians that it is a peninsula-based party and should not establish its roots in the state.
“As long as we have this kind of perception in the minds of Sarawakians, they will not pay much attention to us in the coming state election,” he said at the opening of the party’s Sarawak chapter here.
“Therefore, our main task is to break this perception, that we are the national party and represents the whole country,” he said.
Mohamad, popularly known as Mat Sabu, stressed that the task to change the minds of Sarawakians is not easy, saying that party members must go to villages, longhouses and coffeeshops telling the people that Amanah fights for all Malaysians, regardless of from which states they are from.
“In the previous Sarawak state election, we went to a coffeeshop in Kabong state constituency to campaign for our candidate. There we met some people who told us to take care of Peninsular Malaysia. This was Sarawak,” Mat Sabu said, recalling the strong sentiments expressed by Sarawakians against Peninsula Malaysia-based parties.
He said the DAP does not face much problems as the Sarawakians have accepted it to be a local party.
“It is no longer considered as an outside party and that was why it was able to win many seats in the Sarawak state election.
“But for us, we have to work harder to convince the people to accept us, particularly in the coming state election,” he said, citing that in the 2016 state election most of Amanah’s candidates lost their deposits as the voters considered the party to be non-Sarawakian party.
Mat Sabu also asked the party’s Sarawak chapter to convince the people that Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB), the lynchpin of the ruling Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), is not the state government neither the state government is PBB.
“The fact is PBB is a political party, not the state government,” he said, adding that Sarawak Amanah must work hard to change the mentality of the people that PBB is not the government and the state government is not PBB.
Mat Sabu said he can understand why there is still a perception that the PPB is the state government because it has been in power for almost 60 years.
On the coming state election, he asked the party’s Sarawak chapter to prepare itself and go to the ground and meet the people.
He said the national party leaders will help the chapter in the preparation and campaign, especially in areas to be contested by the party.
However, he said the local party leaders will lead in the preparation and campaign in the state election to avoid the perception that Amanah is a peninsula-based party.
“Whatever happened in Sandakan recently, it can also happen in Sarawak,” Mat Sabu said, referring to the DAP’s huge victory in the Sandakan parliamentary by-election on May 11 this year.
