Do 'local-political parties' really know best? — Kevin Yii

OCTOBER 6 — The Malaysian political scene was recently rattled with the announcement of the resignation of 11 political leaders including Sabah PKR chief and Klias assemblyman Datuk Seri Panglima Lajim Ukin, Moyog assemblyman Terrence Siambun as well as Likas assemblyman Junz Wong on the pretence of the “need” to join a local-based party which they “believe” is a better platform to champion local rights.

These regionalist sentiments and “belief” were a huge discussion point and probably a big deciding factor is the recent Sarawak State Elections. Even those who resigned even cited the Sarawak Elections as an attempt to somewhat justify their act.

Many believe this will continue and will probably be the prevailing sentiment leading up to the General Elections which is due in 2018.

As much as I believe in the need for “state pride” and “state unity,” as well as respect their democratic rights to choose their political platforms, however, for me this is a really worrying trend.

And it is worrying not as an attempt to defend national political parties, but rather what troubles me is the belief that only a particular cohort can defend or speak out for that particular cohort of people.

It is downright misleading and strongly discriminatory in nature to make such a claim. It is discriminatory to label and accuse a party simply based on their demographic origin. Demography does not disqualify a party from fighting for the rights of the people. Thus this “belief” could perceived as a clear form of “regional discrimination.”

If you throw in race as a comparison, it’s like saying only the Malays can take care of the Malays, and the Chinese or Indians can only take care of their respective race. Isn’t this how the political parties we built in the early days especially among the ruling Barisan Nasional government and now we all have experiencing the ill effects of it, with greater divide and segregations among races.

I respect the Malaysian Agreement 1963 (MA63) and spirit of the formation of the Federation of Malaysia based upon the participation of three political regions. Thus I also acknowledge that there are issues that are regional in nature including ownership of our resources and state and autonomous rights.

However, just because the issue is regional in nature, it doesn’t mean that it can only be championed by a regional political party. Fact is, the mechanics of such “regional issue” has far reaching implications even all the way up to national level.

I thus strongly believe that it is myth that only a local-based party can take care of the interest of our local people and rights.

The base-demographics of political party has no correlation with its competency and suitability in its struggles to fight for the interest of the people. Fact is, the leader of these so-called peninsular-based parties are Sarawakian and Sabahan themselves.

Just because they are rooted in a so called peninsular-based party, does it make him/her less of a Sarawakian or Sabahan and less competent to know the needs of the local people?

A strong political party is judged based upon its ideologies, policies and consistencies in fighting for the rights of the people.

The Pakatan Harapan partners(so-called peninsula-based parties) have been consistent if not the most consistent in standing to fight for our rights including raising issues of state autonomy, rights for our Petronas workers, as well as the demands for our 20 per cent oil royalty.

In comparison, we have seen multiple so called local-based opposition parties especially in Sabah which did not offer any sense of continuity and sustainability.

Again, if we follow the logic that only a local-based party can take care of the best interest of the state, then all we need is to look at the track record of these so-called local-based BN parties.

In Sarawak itself, it was these BN local-based parties including PBB and SUPP which signed away our rights and downgrade our state’s status in 1978. It was these local-based parties that signed away our resources and oil royalty. It was these BN local-parties who has been in power since 1963 and yet we are still in lack of basic necessities and is one of the poorest state in Malaysia.

It is then clear that it was these local-based parties which eroded our rights and dishonoured the Malaysian Agreement.

Can we then still say only local-based parties “know” what’s best for the state?

Only now, these local BN political parties have jumped on the band-wagon and started singing the same tune because it has benefited them. They are hiding behind “regionalism” to cover the fact they were the ones that sold off our state rights in the first place and are responsible for the condition of our state now.

I strongly believe that these sentiments, the dissatisfaction and sudden strong desire for a local-based party is stem from our anger of being short-changed and marginalized, but it was somehow misdirected against the so-called peninsula-based political parties.

This for me is a case of misdirected anger.

The problems in the state and reason we experience marginalisation of East Malaysia is caused by corruption, cronyism, and clear abuse of power. Just recently the MACC seized a total of RM112 million in cash from a director and deputy director of a Sabah Utilities Department.

Imagine, there are people in the state itself that has no proper basic utilities and flow of clean water, and yet, this money, which could easily benefit the state, was taken for personal interest.

Just imagine, this is only from one department and from one state.

This again, has nothing to do with peninsula-based political parties.

That is why it is so important that we do not give in to what I believe is hazardous regionalist sentiments and direct our dissatisfaction at the core of the problem.

We as a state cannot give into such parochial approach. Our dissatisfaction of the predicament that we are in, must fuel us to think bigger not smaller.

Sentiments come and go, but what has to be strongly rejected is racism, corruption, and abuse of power, not the origin of a party.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.