All eyes on new Sarawak chief minister

WITH signs pointing to a snap election this year, newly-appointed Chief Minister Datuk Abang Johari Abang Openg’s top priority is to prepare the Sarawak Barisan Nasional (BN) for the polls.

The questions on many people’s lips are: “Will there be another Adenan (former chief minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem who led BN to a landslide victory in the state election last year) for Sarawak?” and “How is Abang Johari going to win back the parliamentary seats lost to the Opposition in 2013 (GE13)?”

In GE13, the Opposition, riding the wind of change and taking advantage of the Chinese discontent with the government it managed to arouse, wrested five Chinesemajority urban seats from BN, bringing its tally of Sarawak MPs to a record number – six out of a total of 31.

Last year, the Adenan factor caused a swing of Chinese votes back to BN.

But those who understand Sarawak politics know that Sarawakians may adopt a different stand when it comes to parliamentary polls, China Press reported.

For Sarawakians, GE14 is not only a time to rate Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak’s performance but also a time to show whether they are happy with Putrajaya’s treatment of Sarawak, which had been asking for devolution under Adenan’s leadership.

The Opposition, particularly DAP, has been harping on federal issues, which may again arouse the discontent of Sarawakians, especially the Chinese.

Abang Johari’s close relationship with Umno and Najib is likely to be used by the Opposition to claim the new chief minister, unlike Adenan, will not put Sarawak’s rights and interests above all else.

The report said Abang Johari’s biggest challenges in the coming polls are winning the support of the Chinese and ensuring the bumiputras continue to rally behind BN to ensure Sarawak remains Putrajaya’s “fixed deposit”.

At present, the Chinese in the state in general want to see the appointment of a Chinese deputy chief minister; more government allocation for Chinese schools, including Chinese independent schools; more Chinese recruited into the state’s civil service; and greater autonomy for the state.

During his short stint as chief minister, Adenan introduced a series of people-centric and Chinese-friendly policies, including recognising the Unified Examination Certificate and providing grants to Chinese independent schools, resulting in the swing of Chinese votes to BN in the last state election.