Local council elections be held?

MANY would still remember the large gathering of supporters from both political divides, the SUPP and DAP, at the compound of Kuching City South Council (MBKS) building prior to the March 8 general election over the appointment of MBKS mayor. The appointment of mayor had been one of the contentious issues during the general election as far as Bandar Kuching constituency is concerned. The issue then was whether a Chinese would be appointed to the post. The mayor issue popped up after the vacant post was left unfilled for several months following the demise of the late Mayor Chong Ted Hsiung and this had been seized quickly enough by some politicians to score political mileage.

To refresh everyone’s mind, several years ago, former deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk M Kayveas caused a furore when he called the local authorities ‘secret societies’ for their lack of transparency and accountability. There was also corruption accusation hurled against the local authorities in Parliament then that corruption was widespread at all levels of the government. And in the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting when it first sat right after the 2006 state election, the issue of local authorities was again brought to the centre stage when the opposition called for the reintroduction of local council election.

The local authorities have always been the centre stage in Malaysian politics as it is the local government which deals with the livelihood of people, thus creating a bearing or effects in mainstream politics. The local council election was abolished in 1970 after the eruption of racial riots in the aftermath of 1969 elections, giving rise to the perception that party politics if allowed to continue as the basis of local government would be against national interest as the government then was anxious to prevent the spread of further outbreaks of violence elsewhere. Since then, mayors and councillors are appointed by mentris besar and chief ministers where names are submitted through political parties for consideration.

Local authorities in Sarawak were established under the Local Authority Ordinance 1996 and the state Ministry of Environment and Public Health is responsible for overseeing the running of local councils. Over in the peninsula, the local authorities are governed Local Government Act 1976 which outlines the form, organisational structure, functions and responsibilities of a local authority. After so many years, the issue now is should local council elections be reintroduced and brought back to Malaysia’s political scene? There are of course many arguments on this issue depending on what one believes in.

An argument which is constantly voiced is that the current system of appointment of mayors and councillors has made the appointees responsible only to those who appointed them. That means to say they are only answerable to their political masters and not the people or the taxpayers. In this age where people have become sophisticated, well-read and well-travelled, this kind of arrangement may not go down well as what the people demand is transparency and accountability in the management of local authorities. To them, they want a say in the running of local authorities as whatever rulings or policies made by the local authorities would have impact on them and thus, the local council election would be a channel for them to elect representatives whom they feel serve them better. But on the other hand, many people would not know that serving councillors in state local councils are only paid allowances for meetings attended and the amount should not exceed RM350 a month.

Such a meagre sum has raised the concern that how many people out there are willing to sacrifice their time to serve in the local authorities to formulate policies knowing for sure that they could earn much more if they devote their time wholeheartedly to their professions or businesses. The amount and time spent in running the local authorities are tremendous as being councillors, people expect them to attend to their problems no matter how petty those problems, from clogged drains to tree trimmings. For those who strongly believe in the reintroduction of local council election, their argument may well centre on the ideals that the election would create transparency and accountability and that the councillors would be responsible for the people and not their political masters. Thus, whatever policies formulated in the local authorities are detected by the people since the councillors are now answerable to them. But again, a differing view is that to hold the local council elections may well eat too much into the government’s coffers and this may hamper the development effort as too much fund will be channelled to the holding of the elections.

In the end, a lot of development initiatives could not take off as funding from the government may be lacking and as such a lot of development initiatives may have to be stalled. Bringing back the local council elections will definitely give a sigh of relief to the serving MPs or assemblymen as they will be rid of the tedium of having to attend to the people’s many problems. MPs or assemblymen are supposed to be lawmakers drafting laws at the national or state level but their tasks have been significantly reduced to attending those problems which have greatly eaten into much precious time. With the reintroduction of local council elections, this will be the responsibility of councillors who have to answer to their electorates for their actions, inactions and other shortcomings.

Another foreseeable problem will be that by electing councillors to the local authorities, are these so-called rightfully or democratically elected representatives having the tendency to make populist policies despite knowing that such policies may not be beneficial in the long run, all in the name of securing their position? To many people out there who are fence sitters on the issue, the local council elections may not be their main concern as what they want to see is effectiveness and efficiency of the local authorities in dealing with people’s problems. Their only demand perhaps is for swift actions from the local authorities in settling their problems, be it clearing drains or fixing street lamps or trimming trees.

No doubt transparency and accountability must well be the mission of all local authorities to give the people the faith and confidence in them. Whether or not local council elections be reintroduced after so many years of abolishment is not yet known and this issue will definitely be one of the many issues to be raised in the local political scene. Whether or not the people are ready for local council elections, only they themselves could tell as at the end of the day, they are the ones who dictate how a country or a state should be run and what is good or bad for them.

When will these talks end fruitfully?

KUCHING: There seems to be no positive end to the talks on the proposed merger of Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) and Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS). At least that is how it looks like for now. SPDP deputy president Datuk Peter Nyarok Entrie, who heads the party’s merger committee, said as much when he told reporters yesterday that the two Barisan Nasional (BN) components “are still talking about it”.

A none-too convincing sounding Nyarok said it was his hope that a stronger merged entity would surface before the next state polls but in the same breadth blurted out: “There is no conclusion on the merger talk yet because at the moment we are still talking.” Nonetheless, with the next state election at least two years away, Nyarok and company certainly have no less than 24 months to continue talking. “I think it is possible depending on our discussion. Hopefully it will come into reality before the state election. We still have plenty of time to talk because the election is still far away,” he said when met at the State-Level Secondary School Cooperatives Quality Award presentation at the Civic Centre here yesterday.

But how much have the negotiating parties covered? The answer to that may not be clear cut as yet but if SPDP-PRS meeting on the night of June 18 is any yardstick, there is indeed very little to indicate progress. On that night, it was said that the two parties “took a major step” towards their merger process when they agreed to shortlist three out of seven names proposed for their new merged entity - Bersatu Rakyat Sarawak (Beras), Demokratik Rakyat Sarawak (Deras) and Bersatu Progresif Rakyat Sarawak (BPRS). The three names were announced at a press conference after a brief meeting between the merger committees of the two parties at Toh Yuen Restaurant in Hilton Kuching Hotel about 10.30pm.

SPDP secretary-general Sylvester Entrie Muran said they hoped to get feedback from the grounds on which of the three names was most suitable for their merged party. Nothing, however, has been heard of the result of that ground feedback that was supposed to be gathered. In fact, as soon as the proposed three names were bandied around, observers responded saying they were skeptical about the whole merger proposal because of the existence of “too many generals inside the (two) parties”. They even went on to say that the very process of the merger would bring about unhealthy politicking. In fact, they said, there was no urgency for any of the two parties to merge.

This was despite Nyarok’s earlier contention that after several meetings between the merger committees, “we both agreed on the merger in the best interest of our parties.”Nyarok is assisted by Entrie and SPDP senior vice-president Peter Nansian Ngusie in the SPDP merger committee while his PRS counterpart is vice-president Datuk Billy Abit Joo, who is being assisted by vice-president John Sikie Tayai and secretary-general Wilfred Nissom.

Abit is in fact a new introduction, replacing vice- president Datuk Dublin Unting Ingkot, who is indisposed since falling into a coma last May 22. SPDP and PRS are both rural-based, claiming multi-racialism but insisting on being led by Dayak presidents. Both delivered 100 per cent performance for the BN in the last parliamentary election. SPDP is headed by Dato Sri William Mawan Ikom who is Minister of Social Development and Urbanisation while PRS, by Dato Sri Dr James Jemut Masing who is Minister of Land Development.

A Pakatan govt will fail?

KUCHING: The government that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is planning to set up - should he succeed in convincing some Barisan Nasional (BN) elected representatives to join him - could be doomed for failure.

Dr. James Masing

Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president Dato Sri Dr James Masing said yesterday: “Any government formed by a group of turncoats will never be stable.” Anwar, the de facto leader of Parti Keadilan Rakyat and Pakatan Rakyat, had been claiming for several months that he had the numbers to take over the government in September. After the March 8 polls, the BN government has 140 members of Parliament as against Pakatan Rakyat’s 82. For Anwar to take over the government, he would need at least 30 BN MPs to cross-over. Masing said any coalition members who hopped over to the opposition side of parliament would be committing a “betrayal of trust”. He felt that if Anwar were serious about forming a government he could wait until the next general election.

“The fact is that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is the duly elected leader of the country. Give him a chance and let him do his work. Until then he should serve his term as the duly elected leader. Anwar is just 61, what is another five years. He can seek the mandate of the people during the next general election. That is the proper thing to do,” said Masing, who is the Sarawak Land Development Minister. On Wednesday night, Sarawak BN chairman Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said Sarawakians felt offended when rumours surfaced of state BN members contemplating hopping to other parties for the sake of positions and other benefits.

“Sarawak people may have been poor at one time but I can tell you that we cannot be bought and we will not hop blindly when other people ask us to do so. I can assure the prime minister that the people of Sarawak will never forget what the BN leadership has done for our state,” he said at a dinner held in connection with the BN Elected Representatives’ Wives Annual Programme here, which was officiated by Abdullah. In turn, Abdullah assured that Sarawak would get more value-added development and thanked Sarawak for its continuous support for the ruling coalition.

“Tan Sri Taib said thank you to us but I must say this: You may thank us for whatever little things that we have done for you but I have to thank Sarawak for not forgetting the BN,” said Abdullah, who is the national BN chairman. Reacting to Abdullah’s comment, Masing said he was touched that the premier had acknowledged Sarawak’s support for the BN. “I hope the federal government will also reciprocate by giving us development projects that the state is in need of,” he said.

‘Headless’ MDC scouts for replacement

Vacant posts of pro-tem committee president and deputy president to be filled soon

KUCHING: The vacant posts of pro-tem committee president and deputy president of the Malaysian Dayak Congress (MDC) will be filled soon. According to a statement issued by MDC pro-tem information chief Joseph Tawie here yesterday, several persons had offered to serve and replace those who had abandoned the struggle and aspirations of the yet-to-be registered party.

Former pro-tem president Nicholas Bawin is now Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Sarawak deputy chief while former deputy president Dr Johnical Rayong, the Engkilili assemblyman, has expressed interest to join Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP). Joseph, when contacted for further information, refused to reveal further details of the persons expected to replace Bawin and Dr Rayong.

He nonetheless did not discount the possibility that one of the three MDC pro tem vice presidents – Henry Brauh, Chiba Abu and Francis Gider, may go up the ladder. Louis Jarau, a lawyer, is expected to retain his post as pro tem secretary general.

“The remaining members of MDC have not given up hope of getting the party registered,” he said in the telephone interview. Joseph in the statement also said the pro-tem committee of MDC is still pursuing its registration with the Home Affairs Ministry and the Registrar of Societies (ROS) despite several committee members having abandoned the MDC struggle.

“Those committee members who still believe in the objectives and struggles of MDC will continue to pursue its registration and will be approaching the authorities again soon regarding the status of their appeal and registration,” he said. He also said that the pro-tem committee had also received many queries and feedback from former members and supporters of the now-defunct Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS).

“We had assured them that the committee had discussed various options to be taken pertaining to the MDC registration,” he said. MDC first submitted its application for registration on May 6, 2005 but was rejected by the ROS on July 19, 2006. In August that year, the pro-tem committee filed a formal appeal to review the decision. It has yet to get any reply. In the statement, Joseph also expressed his disappointment over the unfair treatment by the authorities against the Dayaks who wished to form their own political party.

PRS leadership crisis far from over

Sng asked to disassociate himself with ‘sacked’ officials and stop giving ‘wrong signal’

KUCHING: Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) has asked one of its members, Larry Sng, to stay clear of those whom the party has “sacked”. Sng, Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department, has been told to do so otherwise he would be sending a wrong signal — that the party is still divided by factions and that he is still the “president”.

PRS secretary-general Wilfred Nissom said it would not be good for Sng to be associated with those already “sacked” including Sidi Munan and Munan Laja. Nissom said what was already clear was that the Registrar of Societies (RoS) had approved Dato Sri Dr James Jemut Masing as the president. Masing is also Land Development Minister.

“The so-called Sng’s faction is a non-entity following RoS’ recognition (or approval) of Dato Sri Masing’s sacking of Sidi Munan and Munan Laja with several others on May 25 2006,” Nissom told The Borneo Post yesterday. “Sidi Munan, Munan Laja together with a number of others, have already been sacked from PRS and this is recognised by RoS. It is therefore not good for Larry Sng to be associated with them,” he reiterated.

Nissom said he was making this very clear because he was unhappy with a recent development in Sibu where Sng appeared to have sent the wrong signal to members when he addressed himself as a faction leader. Nissom said if Sng continued to address himself as a faction president he could spark another round of quarrel among members.

Yesterday The Borneo Post reported Sng as saying that: “As for me, my mission and vision as a faction leader is to bring all factions in the party together, forge greater unity and create greater stability. I will continue to be in PRS, to be in BN.” He was quoted when closing a Ngiling Bidai ceremony jointly organised by five PRS divisions namely Nangka, Pelawan, Bukit Assek, Bawang Assan and Katibas on Friday night in Sibu.

Among the 500 people present at the Sibu event were Sidi Munan whom the group (Sibu event) addressed as “secretary-general”, Munan Laja (organising chairman), Jimmy Donald “deputy president” and his son Leon Jimat, “Youth chief”. When contacted yesterday, Sng said PRS leaders should not misconstrue the Sibu event or even feel threatened by it. Asked whether he recognised Masing as president, Sng responded: “As far as my supporters are concerned, they still recognise me as a leader and want me to work with other PRS leaders.

“I hope the Sibu event is not misconstrued. And I don’t want the others to feel threatened by it. After all we are working in BN.” Sng said the BN should worry more if PRS supporters started joining PKR or other opposition and that was not in his, Masing’s or BN’s best interest. “What I want to say is that, there is no denying that PRS has 19 divisions which are aligned to me. At the moment, they want me to lead.

“Their members are also registered members of the party and they are also looking up to me as a leader and want me to continue leading them. I would like to see PRS united because at the end of day we (BN) are going to face a stronger opposition in the coming election. At the moment we would not want any of our supporters being marginalised or being neglected. In Sibu we reaffirm our group of supporters that we remain intact. I’ve sent a strong message to them that we are supporting the government,” he said, adding that Masing did not try hard enough to unite all party members.

Sng said: “Although RoS has issued a vague letter in support of Dr Masing, there has not been any initiative on his part to reunite the party, which in the opinion of my supporters, is like marginalising them from the BN as a whole. So this has resulted in a power vacuum which the opposition can capitalise on. This is what I am totally against.

Since April or May 2008, things seemed to be so quiet for PRS until Friday. The RoS had apparently issued four letters to PRS, including one addressed to “deputy president” Datuk Sng Chee Hua, Sng’s father, on April 1, 2008. The original letter containing the decision of the Registrar, Datuk Alias Md Kalil, not to deregister PRS was sent to the PRS “secretary” at the party’s registered headquarters at Green Heights Commercial Centre.

Three others were ‘cc’ to Sng, the “president” Dato Sri Dr James Masing and “treasurer” Clement Eddy. Only the “secretary” was not named. There were actually two pages with the Registrar’s decision on the first page, while the second page contained the people the letter was copied too. Masing then claimed that senior Sng was no more party deputy president even though the letter was addressed to him as such. He said that senior Sng’s position in the letter was just an administrative matter.

“You must remember the showcause letter was addressed to him too when he was the deputy president and so when the reply came back, it must go to who the letter was sent to. These are administrative matters, it is not political. To think that it is still the same, you must be dreaming,” he told reporters after a private meeting with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, along with four of his supreme council members.

The April 1 letter contained Alias’ decision on a showcause letter his predecessor had sent PRS on Sept 7, 2006, following the sacking of six principal office bearers by Masing in May that year. Those sacked included junior Sng, who was then the deputy secretary general. Senior Sng and several others had complaint to the RoS and this led to the issuance of the showcause letter.

Alias decided on April 1 that he was satisfied with the reply given by Masing on Sept 15, 2007 as to why he had sacked the office bearers and, therefore, PRS would not be deregistered. The registrar had also told The Borneo Post later on that Masing was PRS president. Then Alias said Masing was still the PRS president and explained that the April 1 letter, which contained his decision not to deregister PRS, was written in response to the reply given by Masing in his capacity as PRS president on Sept 15, 2006.

“That’s how it is. Dato Sri Dr James Masing is still the president. I think my explanation in the letter is already clear enough and I do not want to add anything more,” he said when contacted in Kuala Lumpur. When the PRS crisis first erupted, the battle was between Masing and senior Sng. Eventually senior Sng stepped aside after his group held a delegates’ conference in which his son was elected as president. Masing too held his own delegates conference and subsequently, there were two presidents in PRS with separate supreme councils. Masing’s deputy president is Joseph Entulu.

PRS was born out of the demise of Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak on Oct 21, 2004, following a leadership crisis. Until today Masing has not decided to expel Sng from the party, saying he wanted to check the feeling on the ground about the matter. In April, Sng said he would only recognise Masing as the president if this is indeed the decision of RoS Alias. He said he would abide by the registrar’s decision even if that meant that he was expelled from the party by Masing and his supreme council after he did not reply to a showcause letter from them earlier last year.

“If the RoS’ decision stands, then I will urge members to support Dato Sri James Masing. I hope they will also maintain their support for the Barisan Nasional (BN) leadership. “If such chain of events stands, I am now partyless,” Sng said then.

Cabinet reshuffle prelude to major one

KUCHING: The state cabinet reshuffle on Thursday was yesterday confirmed to be a prelude to a major reshuffle, which will also see the inclusion of new faces. Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud yesterday said he would carry out ‘a proper reshuffle’ early next year. The minor reshuffle announced earlier was only meant to assist the state government at the political level.

“We don’t have enough people to work at the political level so I put someone who can help at that level, and provide new input. The reshuffle next year will see several new faces, but not this time around,” he told reporters after launching the Sarawak Regatta and Sarawak Regatta Trade Fair 2008 at the Kuching Waterfront. Taib said he might consider splitting certain ministries like the Ministry of Urban Development and Tourism given that tourism was a major revenue earner for the state.

On Thursday, the Chief Minister’s Department announced that Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh was to take over from Datuk Michael Manyin as Minister of Environment and Public Health, while the latter takes over Wong’s position as Minister of Urban Development and Tourism. Wong is Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) deputy secretary-general and Bawang Assan assemblyman while Manyin is PBB vice-president and Tebedu assemblyman. Wong still retains his Second Finance Minister’s post.

Simunjan assemblyman Mohd Naroden Majais who is PBB Supreme Council member has been given the post of Assistant Minister of Planning and Resource Management. Naroden retains his Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department (Bumiputera Entrepreneur Development) post but his post as Assistant Minister of Land Development is now taken over by Marudi assemblyman and Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) secretary-general Sylvester Entrie. Entrie now holds two portfolios as he also retains his post of Assistant Minister for Water Supply, which is now restyled to Assistant Minister for Public Utilities (Water Supply).

On July 12, Taib, who is the state Barisan Nasional chairman, told reporters that he would carry out the reshuffle after the SUPP delegates conference later this year. He reasoned that he did not want to distract the SUPP delegates in their mission to strengthen and revive their party. Meanwhile, Wong said he was looking forward to visiting all the 24 local authorities in Sarawak to familiarise himself with his new duties and responsibilities.

“My first job is to visit the 24 councils in the nearest time possible. I want to understand what the councils have done, what they are doing and what must be done,” he told reporters at the opening of Sarawak Regatta yesterday. He said during his visits, he would like to meet with the chairmen and councillors to look into areas that were influencing the people. Wong said the swap between him and Manyin was Taib’s prerogative and the new portfolio was very challenging to him. He said he would work harder.

“I will carry on with the good job left by Manyin, and two major things I want done are the introduction of independent environmental auditing and transparent system of informing the public on the councils’ collection in an itemised format,” he said. Manyin meanwhile said independent consultants had already been appointed to carry out auditing work and this would make the Environmental Impact Assessment practices in the state an independent process.

Also, with the transparent system of informing the public on the councils’ collection, people would not simply accuse the councils anymore, said Manyin, who was present with Wong during the interview. On his new job, Manyin said connectivity remained the main problem in getting more foreign tourists to visit the state.

Sng vows to continue leading PRS

SIBU: The leader of a faction in Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) Larry Sng Wei Shien reiterated his commitment to lead the party with greater zest and vigor to help Barisan Nasional achieve a bigger win in the next state election. He said that PRS, as a member of the ruling BN coalition, needed to work harder and smarter for the developments of Sarawak, particularly in helping Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud to meet the vision, mission and objectives of Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE).

END OF GAWAI: Sng (third right) leads together with (from third left) Munan, Ho Mung Theng PRS Nangka chairman, Jimmy and others close the Gawai by rolling the mat. Sidi stands at second left.

“As for me, my mission and vision as a faction leader is to bring all factions in the party together, forge greater unity and create greater stability. I will continue to be in PRS, to be in BN. To me, the March 8 polls is a milestone for the opposition, but the next state election which is due in two to three years’ time will be a milestone for the BN,” Sng said at the Gawai closing (ngiling bidai) jointly organised by five PRS divisions in the central region - Nangka, Pelawan, Bukit Assek, Bawang Assan and Katibas – last Friday.

Members from six ‘outstation’ divisions - Lingga, Simanggang, Meluan, Balai Ringin, Pelagus and Ngemah, former Sri Aman MP who is also deputy president Jimmy Donald, vice-president Cr Munan Laja (organising chairman), secretary-general Sidi Munan and Youth chief Leon Jimat Donald were among the 500-odd people present. Sng said: “PRS leaders and members also need to reflect on their roles and purposes in BN, taking into consideration the results of the last general election, as well as the implication of the letter given by ROS recently. Where do we go next?” He however did not specifically mention which ROS letter he was referring to.

In his welcoming speech, Munan expressed gladness at the big attendance, saying: “This reflects the strong unity and support for Larry Sng, an Assistant Minister in Chief Minister’s Department, from PRS members throughout the state.” Jimmy, who also spoke, said that he would continue his political struggle and serve the people through PRS and BN even though he was no longer an MP. Sidi meanwhile reminded party members to abide by the party constitution at all times.