SABAH rights activist Jannie Lasimbang has a long list of accomplishments over 20 years but glacial change in the Borneo state has prompted her to make a run for public office.

The 55-year-old joins a growing group of Sabahans wanting change by taking part in politics and aiming for one of the 60 seats in the state assembly, which is dominated by the Barisan Nasional (BN) government.

But Lasimbang’s first battle will be fighting off a prosecution appeal against her acquittal over charges that she had organised the Bersih gathering in 2015 without a police permit.

Her case will be up for mention on June 16. If found guilty, Lasimbang will not be able to stand for the next general election.

“I believe that by becoming a lawmaker, I will be able to change the weaknesses in the present laws… to provide more protection to the indigenous people,” said Lasimbang, who joined DAP.

“Unless there is a will to change these, all the problems the indigenous people face on land and development cannot be changed.”

She speaks from experience, as she has championed the rights and causes of the state’s indigenous communities through the Pacos Trust, a group supporting Sabah’s indigenous people, and when she was the state’s human rights commissioner between 2010 and 2013.

In person, the straight-talking former broadcast journalist cuts a commanding presence when she enters a room, her gaze always intent and observant.

But she quickly puts her audience at ease with her calm demeanour.

“All this while, being in a non-governmental organisation, I believed I could do so much change, but in the end, I realised it’s a bit hard,” she told The Malaysian Insight.

Lasimbang said past efforts of activists have led to greater representation and education and improved the livelihood of the indigenous community, but there were many limitations working as an activist.

The Penampang-born activist said the main problem was the legal restrictions to enacting change.

“The Barisan Nasional government, which is the only government we know, is not willing to change its policies. We in the NGOs are often being given the run-around,” said the Penampang DAP leader.

“Without good laws and policies in place, activists would be like firemen, extinguishing fires when and wherever it happened.”

She said native customary land disputes were a major issue faced by indigenous communities, adding that much of the problem lies in the existing laws and policies.

As a former Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) commissioner, Lasimbang produced the National Inquiry into the Land Rights of Indigenous People of Malaysia, where the panel concluded that there was trend of systemic violation of human rights happening through laws and policies in the country.

But it was not until 2013 when Lasimbang seriously considered becoming a lawmaker to bring about real change.

That year, the Sabah government put on hold a guideline report commissioned by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, related to the free-prior-and-informed-consent (FPIC) principle.

The FPIC is a principle that a community has the right to give or withhold consent to proposed projects which may affect the lands they customarily own or occupy.

The government’s hesitance in imposing a jurisdictional certification on oil palm cultivation based on the FPIC principle showed Lasimbang that she could only bring about real change as a policymaker, which then led her to DAP last January.

She now waits for the court judgment before going to the next step in her nascent political career. – June 1, 2017.