A new political party called ‘Pakatan Rakyat Malaysia’ will be launched in Sibu, Sarawak in the coming days, ahead of the upcoming State Assembly elections, likely to be held next year.

The controversial name is likely to cause confusion among Sarawak voters, sources told Malaysiakini .

The financial backer for the new political entity is believed to be Bintulu member of parliament and BN Backbenchers’ club chairperson Tiong King Sing.

pkr national congress 291108 gabriel adit demong According to sources, the head of the proposed Pakatan Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) party will be Gabriel Adit Demong, 59, state assembly representative for Ngemah.

Adit, who joined PKR last year, had won the Ngemah seat as an independent candidate in 2006.

He had previously held the seat for three terms as vice-president of Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS), but had remained without a party after PBDS was deregistered.

Last November, PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim had welcomed Adit into PKR last November along with some 12,000 of his followers, raising hopes of a political breakthrough in the state.

anwar ibrahim gabriel adit pkr event in sibu sarawak 171108 01 During Adit’s speech at the presentation of membership forms to Anwar, the state assemblyperson had said his main reason for joining PKR was the “political castration” of the Dayaks under the state BN.

He went on to say PKR was the “best vehicle” to address the socio-economic plight of the Dayak.

Unreliable ‘asset’ for PKR

Sarawak Minister for Planning and Natural Resources Awang Tengah Ali Hassan, who is Parti Pesaka Bumiputera (PBB) treasurer, had claimed at that time that Adit had originally planned to join PBB - the dominant party in the state BN.

Political commentators observed privately that Adit was an “unreliable asset” for PKR.

In early June, Anwar revamped the leadership of PKR in Sarawak, handing over the post of chief state liaison to Mustaffa Kamil Ayub, instead of Adit.

Adit was subsequently made a member of the State Leadership Council.

The Sarawak blog ‘Dayak Baru’ claims the Pakatan Rakyat Malaysia party has already been registered by the Registrar of Societies (ROS).

The blog expressed distaste over the lack of impartiality of the ROS, considering the long-standing delay over the registration of the Malaysian Dayak Congress, an offshoot of the defunct PBDS.

If the party is launched as planned, political sources say it is likely the party will be accepted into the BN’s fold, and that the Election Commission (EC) will allow the party to contest the next state elections.

Should this be the case, the acquiescence of the ROS and EC in the matter would reinforce the allegations of political bias in favour of the BN leveled against these two institutions by political critics.

Crude attempt to win votes

The choice of the name ‘Pakatan Rakyat’ would also lay Adit and his backers open to attack. The name has been derided as a crude attempt to win votes among rural Sarawakians lacking education.

sarawak state seat 2006 breakdown 011208 “If this is an attempt to confuse voters by adopting the same name as the opposition coalition, it displays complete contempt for Sarawakian voters,” one political commentator pointed out.

The formation of a new splinter party would be consistent with Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s strategy to strengthen his own PBB party.

‘Dayakism’, a political movement of the majority Dayak in the state that found expression through the PBDS, had almost unseated Taib’s BN government in the ‘Ming Court Affair’ in 1987.

Since 1987, the PBDS was humbled and finally dissolved, with a divided membership forming Parti Rakyat Sarawak under James Masing and the Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) under William Mawan.

Any new political party under Adit, once a leading light of PBDS, would only contribute to the profusion of ‘mosquito’ parties in Sarawak, shoring up Taib’s support.

The state BN has faced mounting criticism over scandals such as sexual abuse of rural schoolgirls by logging workers, forceful destruction of Penan blockades against plantation companies, relocation of rural communities for highly criticised dam projects, and appropriation of Malay and Kedayan villagers’ land.

“But there will always be those who are tempted to serve Tiong’s money,” said a senior Sarawakian politician.

Adit and Tiong did not offer any comment on reports of the new party.