Politics is never a straightforward business. It is topsy-turvy.

When Abraham Lincoln vowed to push for slavery emancipation, he ‘bribed’ reluctant opposition members to side with him by offering jobs in the federal government. Several actions which are technically improper were employed to reach his goal to abolish slavery.

Adenan Satem may not need to abolish slavery, but he is adamant in pushing for Sarawak’s rights through whatever means. He is acutely aware of the dangers posed by Umno, which he often hinted at by referring to Sabah. As such, Penang’s Deputy Chief Minister II, P Ramasamy, hit the spot when he said that Adenan is a “closet anti-Umno” politician.

He later stated that, “Adenan is not a naive politician and is aware of the implications to Sarawak politics if Umno makes an entry into the state, as was the case in Sabah". True. That I believe we all can agree on.

Similar to Ramasamy, I also believe that Adenan has bigger problem in mind rather than Pakatan. He is afraid that Umno will stay put in Sarawak, much like it did in Sabah after the collapse of Sabah BN. He is also aware that Umno has well-oiled machineries and bottomless resources to penetrate, manipulate and win over the votes in rural Sarawak. He saw that in Sabah.

I know for a fact that quite a number of PBB members disagree with him, and might even be too happy to have Umno in Sarawak. But after all said and listened to, I believe Adenan is genuine.

As Ramasamy has said, his actions to bar the opposition political figures were a mere facade to kowtow to Umno. I somehow think Umno senses this, and has sabotaged BN's own campaign by informing about the snag in the discussion over oil royalty.

Salleh Said Keruak’s backhanded compliment stating that Najib Abdul Razak ‘chose’ Adenan was meant to play to the gallery - reduced support for Sarawak BN will enable the federal BN to ensure ‘compliance’ with the federal ‘standard’.

Another reason why I believe in Adenan is that has no further plans. His speeches are pretty much fatigued. He has no energy left to run for another term. His family members are not implicated in grand schemes. In his last breath, I think he just wants to serve. Let’s give him five years.

I have given PKR my vote in the last election, I only see the guy that I have voted for again in the last few weeks. Not much difference to me if he is from BN. But I may cast it for BN this time just to give Adenan a chance to lead in the next five more years.

As of now, we don’t have a safeguard to protect Sarawak from Umno’s incursion. Fortunately, Adenan is there and needs all the mandate he can get. Ramasamy concedes to this, too.

However, this highlight the fact that sadly, we don't have much choice. As the Protestants in Netherlands used to say: Better the turban of the Turks than the Tiara of the Pope. Better pay a small fine than being forced to convert.