KUCHING: A political analyst has deemed last Sunday’s Sarawak Pakatan Harapan (PH) dinner here as a propaganda disaster.
“The dinner confirmed two things. Firstly, the PH big bosses are all from Peninsular Malaysia. Secondly, local PH members are mere followers and have little or no say in PH,” Datuk Peter Minos opined.
He believed that this was the very essence of discontent among Sarawakians.
“They would say that if PH should rule Sarawak, it would be a direct Peninsular rule, and this is something that Sarawakians do not want happen,” he elaborated to New Sarawak Tribune.
Expressing the sentiments of locals, Minos commented that Sarawakians would much prefer to be governed by Sarawak political parties and leaders for numerous valid reasons.
He also felt that during the dinner, which was attended by various PH component leaders, prominence was given to Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Democratic Action Party (DAP) veteran Lim Kit Siang, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) president Mohamad Sabu.
“The local leaders were quietly placed on the sidelines, as if not quite existing or even around,” he said, adding that even the group photo onstage was a clear depiction of the “big bosses” and “followers” of PH.
As a result, Minos believed that anything said and done at the dinner by Anwar, Muhyiddin, Kit Siang and Mat Sabu would have contributed to the increased wariness and suspicion among Sarawakians with regard to the plans of the Peninsular PH bigwigs.
On another note, he considered the dinner to be filled with empty lecturing, profound political theories and hot air.
“Nothing was announced for the development and improvement of Sarawak. Some even hit Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) regarding a number of issues.
“What really matters to Sarawak — the return of its rights and powers under MA63 (Malaysia Agreement 1963) as well as the state’s repeated requests of 20 per cent royalty on oil from Petronas — these were conveniently not mentioned,” he lamented.
