POLITICAL analysts have panned Sarawak’s new political grouping, Gagasan Rakyat Sarawak, saying they would not be able to make any kind of impression in the next general election.

Universiti Putra Malaysia political scientist Jayum Jawan described the coming together of Sarawak People’s Aspiration Party (Aspirasi), Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak Baru (PBDSB) and Parti Sedar Rakyat Sarawak (Sedar) as a “futile electoral exercise”.

Universiti Malaya’s Awang Azman Awang Pawi, on the other hand, questioned what could a bunch of small parties do, if the much more established Pakatan Harapan had difficulties making headway.

Jayum said the pact “amounts to nothing,” and that it is made up of “small and weak opposition parties”.

“Their combined votes in some past state elections is still way below that of GPS,” he said in reference to the state’s ruling four-party coalition, Gabungan Parti Sarawak.

On the race-based PBDSB’s dream of reviving the glory days of its predecessor PBDS, Jayum said it was like raising the famous ill-fated passenger line, Titanic.

“No passengers would be interested in riding in (it),” he said.

“PBDSB is made up of little known and unaccomplished figures who don’t appeal to voters.”

In last December’s state elections, Aspirasi and PBDSB loosely cooperated in a grouping called Gabungan Anak Sarawak.

The largely unknown Sedar went into the state elections as a non-aligned party.

On August 18, Sedar opted to align themselves with the other two parties in a coalition they hoped to register as Gagasan Rakyat Sarawak – a tweaked Gabungan Anak Sarawak.

In the state elections, the three parties battled each other in two constituencies – the Bidayuh-majority seat Opar in Bau and the mixed-seat Dudong in Sibu – with PBDSB and Sedar tripping over one another in Opar, and PBDSB with Aspirasi doing the same in Dudong.

PBDSB contested in 11 predominantly Dayak seats, Aspirasi (15) and Sedar (5).

Sedar had actually named 28 candidates to contest but 23 mysteriously failed to show up and file their papers on nomination day.

“They just disappeared,” Sedar president Othman Abdillah said at the signing of the memorandum of understanding for the new coalition last week.

The three presidents also didn’t have an outing to remember in the state elections.

They fared extremely poorly with all three – Aspirasi’s Lina Soo, PBDSB’s Bobby William and Othman – losing their deposit.

Soo, in a four-way fight for the Chinese-majority seat of Padungan in Kuching, managed to garner only 193 votes.

State DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen won by an even higher majority of 1,198.

William, who contested in the seat of Senadin in Miri, fared even worse.

In a five-cornered fight, he was at the bottom of the pile, picking up only 511 from the 16,909 votes cast.

William was behind candidates from Parti Sarawak Bersatu and Parti Bumi Kenyalang – parties making their electoral debut.

Othman contested in the Malay-majority of Samariang and in the three-cornered fight with the GPS incumbent and Amanah, he polled only 535 out of more than 12,000 votes cast.

The incumbent Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali garnered the lion share of the votes – 11,354 – with Amanah’s Abang Abdul Halil Abang Laili picking a consolation 1,071 votes.

The next general election will still be difficult for the group, Awang Azman said.

He said GPS, which had Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu as the lead party, the Sarawak United Peoples’ Party, Parti Rakyat Sarawak and Progressive Democratic Party, is just too strong and no opposition parties has managed to loosen their vice grip-like hold on Dayak seats.

He said PBDSB would not be able to do so either, even though its predecessor PBDS once rode the wave of Dayak support until its de-registration in 2008 over an unresolved leadership tussle.

Pointing to PH’s struggles, Awang Azman said with the exception of DAP in Chinese dominated seats, the opposition’s two other partners, PKR and Amanah, have not made much headway and would need more time to do so.

In early announcements, Sedar had stated they will contest in all eight Malay-Melanau seats, PBDSB (3) while Aspirasi said they will disclose theirs “in due course”. – August 29, 2022.