AHMAD Zahid Hamidi’s threat to criminalise the slogan “Sarawak for Sarawakians” shows that the ruling government does not want to grant autonomy to the state, said Sarawak Pakatan Harapan.

The deputy prime minister has made a similar threat over the “Sabah for Sabahans” slogan, too.

Sarawak PH chairman Chong Chieng Jen said the threat “speaks clearly of Umno’s position (of being) against Sarawakians’ demand for more autonomous powers”.

The state opposition bloc, at the end of a meeting in Kuching, condemned Zahid’s threat, which was made on Tuesday night at Umno’s general assembly.

“This shows that Umno is flexing its muscle against Sarawak,” said Chong.

The Bandar Kuching MP and state DAP chief said it was all right when the state Barisan Nasional, under former chief minister Adenan Satem, endorsed the slogan in last year’s state election, which many observers said helped propel BN to a landslide victory as voters rallied to give Adenan the mandate he sought in autonomy talks.

DAP, which had been gaining ground in the previous two elections, crumbled under the nationalistic fervour, losing half of its seats.

Chong said now that the slogan was deemed to be against the interests of BN and Umno due to their reluctance to devolve more powers to the state, the ruling coalition wanted to criminalise it.

In calling for the state BN “to stand up to Umno’s oppression of Sarawak”, PH not only questioned the “pin-drop silence” of state BN leaders, but also Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg’s proposal that Zahid lead the federal government’s team in autonomy talks with the state’s newly formed MA63, or Malaysia Agreement 1963, task force.

Chong said when Dewan Rakyat Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia expressed a different view regarding MA63, and Sabah and Sarawak’s rights in the agreement, many BN leaders, including Abang Johari, were quick to condemn him.

“However, when Zahid exerted his position to openly suppress Sarawak’s fight for more autonomy, none of the BN leaders dared to speak out against him. Are they fearful of being thrown into jail?”

He said Pandikar, as Parliament speaker, had no executive powers outside Parliament, therefore, no one was afraid of him.

“On the other hand, as home minister and deputy prime minister, Zahid has great executive powers, including ordering any arrests… (making) all Sarawak BN leaders fearful of Zahid, that none dares to speak up against him.”

Chong said given this “master-servant” mentality between Umno and the state BN, “what can we expect from the so-called ‘negotiation’ by the Sarawak BN for more devolution of powers?”.

He reiterated that if PH won in the next general election, it would fulfil the promise of a “full devolution of powers” to Sarawak, including the return, in full, of education, medical and healthcare matters to the state.

“We will run all our schools and hospitals.

“(Prime Minister) Najib Razak and Zahid are playing the ‘cowboy-Indian’ game, while the Sarawak BN either knowingly or unknowingly plays along with it, achieving nothing concrete and specific.” – December 9, 2017.