A political drama, 24 years in the making, has come to a mute cliffhanger; with Anwar Ibrahim becoming the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia. Almost a week in and we wait on Anwar to present his cabinet to the nation; and a question of interest weighs heavy on those from this side of the pond.
What was Sarawak's gain?
Often lauded as "king-makers" and then forgotten till the next general election; both Sarawak and Sabah played a lesser supporting character role this time round. A somewhat ominous sign of things to come.
The most tooted role of "king-maker" was slapped onto GPS in the lead-up to the 15th General Election; and in the chaos of government formational numerics, the Premier of Sarawak, Abang Abdul Rahman Zohari Abang Openg; embarrassingly pulled out his joker card too soon, only to be seen as more the joker than card.
The u-turn that followed by Abang Jo ceremoniously demised Sarawak's "king-maker" role to that of court-jester and help elevate Zahid Hamidi's profile as the true "king-maker" in the room.
Sabah GRS, doing Sabah GRS things, stayed at the touch-line and casually watched to see what their neighbours in the south were doing. Where Sarawak goes, Sabah will follow. Allow the joker to make the bad joke, so you can leave quietly through the side exit.
What can Sarawak gain, now it is clear that, the stronger voice would be Zahid Hamidi's BN and not Abang Jo's GPS?
Sarawak is a clear model of minority rule for Malaysia. The ruling class for Sarawak have always been the minority, in terms of populace, whereby the majority ethnic groups have (reluctantly) given over their rights to govern to a few elites. The Sarawakian Malays and Melanau-Malays are one of the smallest ethnic groups among the 40 over ethnic groups in Sarawak yet they sit at the table of government and decide for the masses.
This does not sit well for most but yet the quiet majority remains, as always, silent. But silence may not be the norm anymore in the era of Anwar Ibrahim.
PKR still has a strong following in Sarawak, especially in the rural areas. This was something set into place during the last general election back in 2018 as the federalist opposition party touched a soft spot with those who felt Sarawak should stand taller than other entities in the federation of Malaysia.
PKR tapped into the opposition vein of the locals who envisioned a Sarawak for Sarawakians by Sarawakians. This sentiment drove the grass-root support for PKR during the 14th General Election. The ruling PBB caught wind of this and leaned heavily into the "Sarawak for Sarawakian" agenda and turned an opposition rally call into their calling card to knock on Putrajaya. PBB which formed the base party for GPS, has kept this agenda coming into the 15th General Election; knowing full well that it sits well with the majority of Sarawakians.
Anwar, with the tools of Prime Minister's office, can always tap into these established connections, bypassing Abang Jo's GPS altogether; and with DAP holding the major cities of Sarawak in hand, easily flip the minority rule status-quo in his favor.
The distant offices of Putrajaya are something Sarawakians stand proud to oppose and Anwar Ibrahim has played into that sentiment for so long. That now the poster-boy is the main star, Sarawak would definitely want to claim rent.
Expect more resources to flow back to Sarawak, 20 percent royalty may not be enough. Expect Sarawak to play a bigger role on the national stage. Expect ministers to come from Sarawak but not from the obvious source - there are still Sarawakians who are not aligned to GPS in parliament. And expect the slumbering local Sarawakian PKR operatives to come out of their shells to push for more governing seats at the state assembly level.
On the federal level, GPS may be talking to Anwar Ibrahim as government buddies; but come the local state elections, the face-off between GPS component parties and PKR will be an interesting drama to watch.
Pull out the pop-corn and enjoy the show. Things are going to get really interesting.
Maclean Patrick is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav.
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