PKR may bring down whole Pakatan ship
PKR is contesting in most seats in Sarawak but the weakest link in the Pakatan Rakyat chain may turn out to a liability to the loose alliance.
By Hanis Hanif, Free Malaysia Today
KUCHING: PKR may see its electoral fortune sink in Sarawak with the abrupt resignation of its popular assemblyman for Padungan, Dominique Ng Kim Ho.
Ng will now contest the state election as an Independent. In a shock announcement yesterday, he said he would strive to win on his own.
Considered one of the strongmen in Sarawak PKR, Ng’s resignation is a big blow to PKR’s hopes of expanding its influence in the state.
His “go it alone” battle cry will find firm support among the Chinese voters who have been loyally following his unblemished political career.
Ng joined PKR in 1999 and helped build the party into a viable force in Sarawak politics. But with his departure, the party is expected to go through a sticky patch in trying to win the hearts and minds of the nearly one million voters in the state.
The party is contesting in 49 seats with the aim of taking over the government – an ambitious goal that even the DAP and PAS dared not dream.
DAP and PAS know the realities on the ground and are modest in their goals – the former is eyeing only 15 seats and the latter five.
Ng is a well-liked figure in the party and has been its sole representative in the state since 2006. But PKR, based in Kuala Lumpur, and which hardly knows the Sarawakian “mind”, has denied Ng the right to play his role.
Different mentality
The troubles in PKR started when its de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim set out his battle plan to topple the state government and Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud in the aftermath of 2008 “political tsunami”.
Paying no heed to the different culture and mentality of the Sarawakians, Anwar forged ahead with his partners – the DAP and PAS – to create a united front to engage in straight fights in all the 71 seats, with PKR taking the majority.
Refusing to play second fiddle, PKR even shunned SNAP, a well-established party, which is entering the fray on its own steam.
SNAP has a long history and still commands broad support from the local Ibans and Chinese even though it is out of the BN fold.
Snubbing SNAP and now brushing aside Ng who is the backbone of the party leadership in the state, PKR may see its support rapidly eroding among the urban Chinese voters.
Making a miscalculation
If PKR is gambling that it can rely on party state chief Baru Bian to bring in the votes, it may be making a miscalculation. It is true that Bian, an Orang Ulu, is said to be able to rally the Ibans and Malays to his side. But it will be far off the mark to say that the support from the Ibans and Malays will be bigger than Ng’s urban Chinese base.
A local voter said: “Bian is popular among NGO leaders in Kuala Lumpur for his fiery speeches, but back home he is just a normal leader among some people, and not all people.”
