CHANGE must begin at the top, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail tells Borneo voters, as top guns Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Lim Kit Siang fly to Sarawak.

Dr Wan Azizah said the presence of Pakatan Harapan’s top leaders in Sabah and Sarawak, long considered as Barisan Nasional’s “fixed deposits”, this weekend was not so much to launch an “assault”, but to convince the people that there must be a change in the federal government.

The PH president said even though there were local parties in Sabah and Sarawak, the states had not seen much change.

“It is to offer a new deal to Sabah and Sarawak. They have always felt that they did not get a share of their rights after joining the federation.

“We tell them that if they want change, they need to change the federal government.

“There is also the movement calling for autonomy, but after achieving that, what is next (for the two states)?

“Take Sabah, for example. It has changed state governments several times, but the people have not seen much change for themselves.

“If they change the federal government, they will be able to experience real change.

“We want to tell them what PH has to offer… to see that with PH, there is a future if they (vote for) change,” she told reporters today in her parliamentary constituency of Permatang Pauh in Penang.

Dr Wan Azizah and DAP acting chairman Tan Kok Wai were in Sabah on Friday to launch the PH manifesto for the two Borneo states.

The six-point manifesto promises the states a deputy prime minister’s post and a bigger share of revenues if the coalition captures Putrajaya in the 14th general election.

Today, Dr Mahathir and Kit Siang are in Kuching for their first PH ceramah there.

Several other PH leaders, namely those from PKR, had been scheduled to attend political events in Sarawak yesterday, but were barred entry upon arrival.

Dr Wan Azizah’s daughter, Lembah Pantai MP and PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar, had cancelled plans to attend a fundraising dinner and the Purple Women’s Walk against “toxic politics” after PKR MPs Zuraida Kamaruddin (Ampang) and Hee Loy Sian (Petaling Jaya Selatan) were denied entry upon their arrival in Miri.

Today, Nurul Izzah said she had received confirmation that she was on the list of persons barred from entering Sarawak.

Yesterday evening, PKR’s Kuala Sepetang assemblyman Chua Yee Ling from Perak became the third PKR leader to be deported when she had her speech cut short during the Pink Diamond dinner by Immigration officers, who gatecrashed the event and took her away.

Dr Wan Azizah said the state administration must be “scared of its own shadow”.

“They have the power to bar the entry of people into the state, as provided for in the Sarawak constitution. But what is the point?

“With the internet and social media, even though Borneo states have a lower internet penetration, there are some areas we can still reach. Smartphones are almost everywhere.”

Sarawak and Sabah have autonomy in immigration matters. Both state governments have occasionally barred politicians and civil society leaders from the peninsula from entering the states.

Dr Wan Azizah said it seemed like Sarawak wanted to flex its muscle by using its immigration laws.

“The late chief minister, Adenan Satem, did the same, too. But when we made a request for some barred leaders to enter Sarawak to attend a funeral once, it was approved.

“But now, with the latest bans, it seems there is a new wave coming.”

Adenan, who died in January, had frequently used the state’s authority over immigration to deny entry to people he deemed to be “religious bigots, racists and troublemakers”.

Previously, PKR MPs Tian Chua (Batu), Rafizi Ramli (Pandan) and R. Sivarasa (Subang), PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, and civil society activists former Bersih 2.0 chairman S. Ambiga, Steven Ng, Cynthia Gabriel, Dr Wong Chin Huat and Johan Tan had been barred.

Political firebrands like Sungai Besar Umno division chief Jamal Md Yunos and a man Adenan considered to be a religious bigot, Perkasa’s Ibrahim Ali, too, were considered persona non grata. – September 24, 2017.