By BY A TRUE-BLUE SARAWAKIAN
Reference is made to an article purportedly penned by a Sarawak DAP member claiming that the DAP has been the only political party consistently defending the rights of Sarawak and Sabah.
In the article that has been shared a number of times on social media, it also alleged that local political parties are hopeless in defending the rights of the Borneo states.
This is an attempt at fact-twisting by the DAP supporters who are blind to the fact that the DAP did not do anything to assist, what more fight for the return of these eroded rights.
When the Pakatan Harapan (PH) federal government tried to bulldoze their way in proposing the amendment to Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution to restore the status of Sarawak and Sabah, the Sarawak government were of the opinion that the amendment was cosmetic in nature.
The Sarawak government felt while Article 1(2) has to be amended, an amendment was also needed to Article 160(2) whereby it would restore Sarawak’s equal partner status in form and substance.
The definition of “Federation” which then only reflected Malaya Agreement 1957 must be amended to also incorporate Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63). The Sarawak DAP did not support this.
The Sarawak DAP then was all too willing to support their political masters in Malaya to bulldoze the amendment knowing full and well that it is not substantial and meaningful.
Their hope was that the amendment was approved so that they can claim credit saying that MA63 rights has been restored by the DAP-PH government, to be used as brownie points in their ceramahs, blinding the people of Sarawak and Sabah.
If this was the case, we would have said goodbye to our rights under MA63.
When the PH federal government opposed the Sarawak government on the implementation of State Sales Tax (SST), where were the DAP?
The Sarawak government, fought alone in court to assert the rights enshrined under MA63. The Sarawak DAP leaders had indicated its willingness to support the Sarawak government to fight Petronas for the state right.
The fact of the matter was that, if they were really supportive of the cause, they would make their voice heard to the then Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng and Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohamad to not challenge Sarawak in court.
It was either their dissent was shot down by their party bosses in Malaya and they have to toe the party line, or that they kept silent over the matter.
The DAP leaders in Sarawak too were absent when Guan Eng held Sarawak children to ransom over the repair of the dilapidated schools, demanding that the Sarawak government pay their loan before any school repair commences.
Where were they? Where were these so-called fighters? They kept silent and silent is consent. Why did they not pressure their party bosses one way or the other for the schools to be repaired?
It is clear that the DAP is not consistent in fighting for the rights of Sarawak and Sabah as they are subject to the wrath of their political masters in Malaya.
Probably, the DAP in Sarawak when in power at the federal level was too distracted maintaining their positions and posts, cashing in on every last bit of influence that they commanded at the time.
All this while Sarawak rights are neglected and trampled upon by their own bosses from Malaya, leaving the Sarawak government and the people of Sarawak to fend for themselves.
A True-Blue Sarawakian is a Think Sarawak reader. The views expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of Think Sarawak.
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