THE extension of the state of emergency in Sarawak has given the fractious opposition more time to get its act together, according to political analysts.

They said the extra time will allow the parties to consolidate and strike deals with each other.

“The extension of the state of emergency will allow them to consolidate. The opposition is highly divided going into the election,” James Chin told The Malaysian Insight.

The University of Tasmania’s Asia political expert said with the six months extension of the state of emergency, the opposition “now has a bit more time”.

The Prime Minister’s Office, in a statement yesterday, said the emergency in Sarawak from August 2 to February 2 next year had to be proclaimed as a means of postponing the state election and preventing Covid-19 from becoming more serious in the state.

It added that the emergency will ensure that Sarawak will hold the state election after it has ended or terminated earlier.

The special legal adviser to the state government, J.C. Fong, in his webinar talk yesterday said the dissolution of the state legislative assembly has been reset to February 3 next year and the election – barring further extensions – must be held within 60 days from that date.

Constitutionally, the assembly was to have been automatically dissolved on June 6, but the state of emergency that was declared on January 11 placed the state assembly in suspension until it is lifted today as the emergency ordinances override the state constitution.

The division Chin was referring to is between DAP and the state’s other major opposition party, Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB).

DAP had hoped to strike some kind of deal where the two parties could work together in the Chinese-majority seats.

But that had gone nowhere due to the acrimonious relationship between DAP state chairman Chong Chieng Jen and PSB president Wong Soon Koh in the past 14 years when Wong was a state cabinet minister.

As it stands, Chinese-majority constituencies such as Chong’s Kota Sentosa and Wong’s Bawang Assan, could see five-way contests with them facing candidates from the ruling coalition Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), pro-independence parties such as Parti Bumi Kenyalang and independents.

Besides possibly profiting from the disarray, Chin said, the extension could also give the state government more time to bring the Covid-19 pandemic under control before the emergency is lifted.

He said if they do succeed, then the coalition could claim a major victory to further boost their chances of returning to power.

“This will go down (well) with the people. I think people will realise that with the Covid-19 outbreak, it is not possible to have the state election now,” he said.

“What’s on people’s minds is what happened to Sabah in its state election last year.”

Universiti Malaya’s political analyst Awang Azman Awang Pawi said the opposition is in the proverbial last chance saloon.

He said it definitely needs the time to make up ground against the combined might of the ruling coalition, which has been in power – in varying forms of coalition or another – since 1966.

He said for Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg and his government to agree on an extension of the emergency, it shows that the coalition is not desperate to have the election.

“GPS is in the driving seat but did not press to have the polls held until it is safe to have one when Abang Johari was consulted on the extension of the emergency by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong,” he added. – August 1, 2021.