TODAY’s Sarawak Report makes an interesting read with its catchy headline “Sarawak’s Dismay at Abang Jo’s Eager ‘Kingmaking’ Gesture towards PAS” given that the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) coalition has positioned itself in the forefront of Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) horse trading in the aftermath of the 15th General Election (GE15).
Branding Sarawak as one region in Malaysia where PAS has never gained a single seat, the commentary zooms in on the fact that GPS chairman Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg – as a Muslim – “knows well to heed the sensitivities of the largely Christian native population”.
This is considering that Tan Sri Hadi Awang who is the president of PAS – the dominant party in PN (PAS won 49 seats as opposed to Bersatu’s 24 in GE15) – might not relish the fact that Sarawak boasts the highest Christian population in Malaysia at about 42% (but varies to as high as 50% depending on data) .
“Hadi wanted to see Bibles confiscated and burned on the pretext that Christians (in Sabah and Sarawak) had dared to use the word for Allah which means God,” Sarawak Report pointed out.
“(Ironically), the Muslims of Sarawak take care to behave inclusively and moderately and to tolerate non-Muslim customs.”
After all, GPS is made up of four local political parties – Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), Parti Demokratik Progresif (PDP) and the Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP).
Except for Abang Johari who is a Muslim, leaders of three other GPS component parties – Joseph Salang Gandum (PRS), Tiong King Sing (PDP and Sim Kui Hian (SUPP) – are very likely to be Christians.
In fact, Sarawak Report thought that it would be more viable for GPS to pick the “more diverse and tolerant PH and UMNO combo”.
“Did not Abang Jo court the native parties and Chinese alike to achieve his GPS win in Sarawak (recent state election)? So why the now slavish preference to work with the aggressive proselytisers from PAS?” it asked.
“Of course, GPS will not be kingmaker in this suggested coalition anyway since the numbers cannot be achieved without BN (Barisan Nasional).”
In this regard, Sarawak Report is wary that the end result would be “another sprawling Muhyiddin cabinet containing scores of incompetent ministers in order to keep first PAS, then Bersatu, then UMNO, then some crucial micro-parties and finally GPS happy with enough goodies and vast salaries for all.”
“Why does any of this make sense for the average person in Sarawak is what people from that state are asking? And, what was the point of that noisy intervention so soon after Sarawakians had voted with a very different sort of government in mind?” questioned Sarawak Report. – Nov 21, 2022
