QUICK TAKE: There is something quite similar in the way Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) established itself in the two new state seats of Serembu and Bukit Semuja.
In Serembu, PBB Bengoh chairman Dr James Dawos has been tasked with forming the PBB Serembu pro tem committee, while in Bukit Semuja, PBB Tebedu chairman Michael Manyin has formed the Bukit Semuja interim Barisan Nasional (BN) committee.
PBB’s move into the two seats looks to be well-planned and very systematic, which can only mean the decision to form those committees must have come from above.
Both Dawos and Manyin must have been duly assigned their respective roles by their party chief. It is highly unlikely that the two senior Bidayuh leaders in PBB would take the initiative on their own when official announcement has yet to be made on the allocation of the 11 new seats.
Official announcement is one thing, but decisions can in fact be made much earlier and in private. Serembu and Bukit Semuja seem to be the case in point, which is probably why PBB is taking the bull by the horns, so to speak, while the rest of the BN component parties unanimously declare their support.
What works in Serembu and Bukit Semuja must surely work in most, if not all, of the other seats.
If the rest of the BN component parties – Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) and Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) – are so willing to scratch PBB’s back in the two seats, it has to be because PBB has agreed to the scratching game for all the other seats as well.
This you-scratch-my-back, I-scratch-yours seems to be the BN game in Tasik Biru and Marudi, and to a fair extent, in Mambong (or Bengoh), Meluan and Pakan.
In Tasik Biru, the BN component parties have all agreed that their candidate will be SPDP’s William Jinep while in Marudi, they are rooting for Dr Penguang Manggil.
In Mambong, PBB looks intent on becoming SUPP’s staunchest ally for as long as the latter picks the right replacement for United People’s Party’s Dr Jerip Susil.
Indeed SUPP has got the right replacement – Dr Benedict Poris, and Mambong PBB is pleased, much like PRS is said to be too happy to back SPDP’s candidates in Meluan and Pakan – if they are the right material.
What is really happening is BN is undergoing self-healing. The parties are gradually coming together for added strength in seats where they once were fractious.
It is for this reason that state BN chairman, Chief Minister Adenan Satem, is not overly anxious about addressing the problems posed by those so-called BN-friendly parties, UPP and Parti Tenaga Rakyat Sarawak (Teras).
Many say the state election is hardly three months away, yet Adenan doesn’t seem bothered by the impasse.
Adenan has reasons not to worry and one is that he knows if solid BN unity is possible in Tasik Biru and Marudi, there is no reason that it cannot happen in say, Opar, Krian and Bawang Assan.
The state BN chief is letting the BN’s self-healing process to work its own miracle, and as it is, it is happening in all the contentious seats. PBB, PRS, SUPP and SPDP are regrouping to fend off a common enemy.
Needless to say, Adenan sleeps well every night while some people are having nightmares because BN looks to have what it takes to reinvent without the need to look outside.-The Ant Daily
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