19 Sarawak Parliamentarians were voted in during the GE14 under the Barisan Nasional Coalition out of 31 seats BN contested . In 2016 BN was returned as the Government of the day administering Sarawak winning 72 out of 82 seats. The Peoples Choice was very clear for the Sarawak State.
However, the Federal BN was defeated in the General Elections for the 1st time after 61 years in power by Pakatan Harapan formed in 2015.(only On 16 May 2018, the coalition was officially registered)
The Niggling Question amongst party supporters is “What is next for Sarawak?”
Is it so easy just pack up and abandon the ship which they all sailed on all these years?
According to PRS James Masing he said extracted Borneo Post 14th May 2018,”PRS will discuss with “…whoever are left in BN on ways to move forward”, adding it was not his habit to “bite the hands which feed me over the years”.
The Federal Cabinet (phase 1 ) with 14 Ministers in place was just sworn in and they will be under close scrutiny. The other Second Lined Ministers would only be fully completed in a couple of weeks.
There is so much speculations from press/media, political analysts,supporters and the CM Sarawak Abang Jo said,”he will need to consult with the component party leaders and inform of Sarawak’s stand after that. Whatever decision is arrived at is will be the “best solution for the best interests of Sarawak.”
There is no hurry even though Sarawak Federal Parliamentarians are in the opposition but as YB Karim Hamzah puts it very precisely that in Sarawak,”We are the Government of the Day”
The people of Sarawak are matured enough and when the State Elections are called they will know their own “people’s representative” or “Yang Berhormat” who will represent their constituency. The General elections 14 have given voters the right to choose and they will do the necessary in PRN12 for the better good of their own community.
All potential candidates or Incumbents will need to look closely at their own constituencies or face the wrath of their own people and not be VOTED IN to the next State assembly.
The article below extracted from an Internet portal
KUCHING: An analyst has urged Barisan Nasional (BN) parties in Sarawak to exit the coalition, so that they would not be associated with the former ruling party following its polls defeat recently.
Sarawak BN comprises Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP).
“Exiting from BN and forming their own united coalition is necessary in order not to be synonymous with BN whose popularity has diminished and is being rejected by the people,” academic Awang Azman Awang Pawi told Bernama.
He said BN’s win in the 2016 state election was due to the popularity of the late Adenan Satem.
“Adenan’s absence in Sarawak politics after his death has undoubtedly, affected the popularity of Sarawak BN component parties.
“Without Adenan’s popularity factor, Sarawak BN’s performance is expected to fall by at least 20% of the total seats,” he added.
PBB vice-president Karim Abdul Rahman Hamzah said there was a strong possibility the ruling coalition in Sarawak would leave BN to set up a new coalition party.
Meanwhile, another political analyst, Jeniri Amir said a new coalition was the best move for the Sarawak BN.
He said Sarawak BN had to take the drastic step by leaving BN and establishing a new political entity.