Professor: Barisan Nasional does not solve Chinese issues, do not merely blame them to be ungrateful

 

Sin Chew Daily, April 5, 2016

(Kuala Lumpur 4 Apr) Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) associate Professor Dr Mohd Faisal Syam Abdol Hazis says the main reason Chinese voters do not support Barisan Nasional government is because the government does not solve their key issues.

Despite Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan’s popularity, people are still concerned about key issues such as the economy, inflation and corruption. Barisan Nasional should not think that despite giving many resources to the Chinese, they still do not support the coalition.

“Such mentality can be irrelevant. In the 50 matters that Adenan wants to implement, only 15 are related to economy while other issues are not listed. Corruption issues which have been discussed since 2011 do not show any improvement till now.”

Adenan’s popularity can’t be the yardstick

Mohd Faisal points this out at a forum on the 11^th election of Sarawak organised by International Islamic University.

He says Adenan’s popularity can be used to gauge the votes. Apart from economic and corruption issues, urban voters, who like Adenan, are also hoping to have check and balance on the strong state government by voting for the opposition party.

“Judging from Adenan’s popularity at 85%, the Barisan Nasional may secure an increase of 5% of votes from 55% in the last election.”

On DAP which is making inroads into rural areas, Mohd Faisal is of the view that the Sarawak Dream launched by DAP is a very good platform. But the platform can’t beat the financially strong Barisan Nasional.

“The state government is expected to be allocating RM3 billion to areas in contact with DAP. DAP is not an opponent to Barisan Nasional on this.”

Mohd Faisal also predicts that the Barisan Nasional is securing between 64 and 72 seats while the opposition would win between 10 to 18 seats. He also believes that Parti Amanah Negara (PAN) contesting 13 seats would all be defeated.

Unimas associate professor Dr Jeniri Amir also attends the forum.

Opposition expected not to exceed the number of seats won in last election

Mohd Faisal predicts that the number of seats won by the opposition in the state election would not be more than the last election as they are facing series of issues curbing their performances.

He points out that some of the existing elected representatives from the opposition are not performing, they are not paying attention to issues and there is a vacuum in terms of leaders in Malay community. All these would be factors confining the delivery of the opposition.

“Take the issue of autonomy used by Adenan. It has been raised by elected representative from the opposition but now used by Adenan. The opposition is also facing lack of Malay leaders like those in the Peninsular. The Malays in Sarawak may not be the majority but they are domineering the administration in the state.”

Mohd Faisal is of the view that despite the opposition has focused on wiping out corruption, the issue is less crucial than the native customary right issues affecting the state.

“Until now, there are many tribes living in the outskirts are having legal tussle with state government over infringement of native customary right. It is conservatively estimated that such cases have reached 300. If the opposition can raise issues to counter autonomy, better policy solve economic problems and if they can have a direct clash with the Barisan Nasional, maybe they can deliver in mixed areas.”

Money politics still exists and now converted into fund disbursement

Dr Jeniri is of the view that money politics still exist in Malaysia and now has been converted into fund disbursement.

He points out that even if the mode has been converted, the Barisan Nasional still faces the age old issue of unable to honour its promise.

“Without money there is no politics. Many water and power supply contracts in Sarawak have not been sorted out amicably. The authorities must have the political will to complete the contracts and not to over promise.”

On whether the toll charges of Sarawak expressway would affect the pool, Dr Jeniri points out that land and resources issues are far more important than tolled expressways.

“To put it correctly, resources is a case of exploitation. Many corporations are logging in Sarawak but people do not have any benefit. Currently the logging industry in Sarawak is controlled by six huge firms. Many Ibans and Dayaks are angry.”

Dr Jeniri: Sarawak is abusing ban order

Dr Jeniri also points out that the Sarawak state government seems to have the tendency of abusing the ban order and hopes that the authorities can counter opposition parties through a fair platform.

He points out if the state government can lift the ban order placed on several opposition party leaders, Adenan’s reputation may scale new heights.

“Initially when the state government imposes on ban, it was due to the worry of people from the Peninsular and Singapore, where it has yet to leave Malaysia, to have taken over the economic opportunities of Sarawakians. After 53 years, are Sarawakians still lagging behind? It is time for them to stand on their own feet.”

Dr Jeniri also says despite Adenan is an open-minded leader, he has reservation over Adenan’s openness.

“Is Chinese Muslim Ridhuan Tee, who is banned from entering Sarawak, an extremist? Are opposition MPs Teresa Kok, Tony Pua, Zuraida extremists? The state government should have more confidence. There is nothing to be fearful.”

On estimating the number of winning seats, Dr Jeniri is of the view that DAP’s plan of winning larger number of seats from 12 to 22 is unlikely to be possible. Barisan Nasional’s target of winning 70 seats would also be a difficult target.

“This is the first state election after implementing goods and services tax. If the Barisan Nasional is unable to win many seats despite Adenan’s popularity and various resources are pouring into the state, it can be gauged from here how the Sarawak people are looking at Barisan Nasional.”