BERSATU’S political entrance into Sarawak tomorrow would likely be the start of a long and discouraging journey, says political analyst Faisal S. Hazis.

“It will face many challenges since it is a new party.

“But most importantly, it will have to try to dislodge the entrenched might of the ruling Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) for the Malay votes,” the Sarawak-born Associate Professor at the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (Ikmas) of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) told The Malaysian Insight.

Faisal said Sarawak has always been challenging ground for new political parties, citing Bersatu’s fellow Pakatan Harapan parties DAP and PKR as examples.

“It took DAP more than three decades to penetrate urban Sarawak and it took PKR almost two decades to make a breakthrough in a few rural seats in the state,” he said.

In the 10th Sarawak state election in April 2011, DAP had its best electoral showing ever doubling its seats in the then 71-seat state legislative assembly to 12, while its PKR partner picked another three – all rural Dayak seats.

But, it was still not enough to stop the then Sarawak Barisan Nasional (BN) from retaining its two-thirds majority.

In the 2016 election, DAP suffered a major setback losing five seats while PKR maintained its three in the state assembly.

Two other Malay-Muslim parties with roots in the peninsula – Islamist party PAS and its offshoot Amanah – have yet to win a seat (state or federal) since entering Sarawak.

Faisal also pointed out that Bersatu, which was launched by Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 2016, targets votes from Malays, who are a minority in the state, making up only 23% of the 2.77 million population.

Sarawak’s four-party ruling Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) coalition is made up of PBB which focuses on the Malay and Dayak ethnic groups while the other three – Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) and Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) – are all multi-racial parties.

However, Australia-based Sarawak-born political analyst James Chin was more optimistic of Bersatu’s chances, saying its entry into Sarawak could finally provide a viable alternative to Malays and Muslim Bumiputeras.

Chin, the Director of the Asia Institute at the University of Tasmania, told The Malaysian Insight that Bersatu has the backing and support of PH parties currently in the state.

He also noted that people in Sarawak, unlike those in neighbouring Sabah, do not hate Dr Mahathir.

“There was no ‘Project M’ in Sarawak,” he said in reference to allegations that Dr Mahathir, during his first tenure as prime minister, had ordered that illegal immigrants in Sabah – Filipinos, Indonesians and even, Pakistanis – be given Malaysian identity cards in return for voting for BN.

But both Chin and Faisal agree that even with the challenges, the key to Bersatu’s success in Sarawak, just like in the peninsula, is to champion the position of the Malays.

“It’s simply ‘vote for us and we will ensure Sarawak Malay and Muslims, despite being a minority in the state, will be politically number one’,” said Chin. – November 30, 2018.