COMMENT Yesterday's victory for the Sarawak's BN coalition was not so much a victory for the BN as a whole, but for the people of Sarawak wanting freedom from the federal government.

This victory was so crucial for Chief Minister Adenan Satem that he went out of his way to prevent certain opposition politicians from gaining entry into Sarawak before the elections.

Whether he barred these leaders on his own accord or whether BN federal leaders were behind this remains in doubt. But I would think that he had greater say on this matter.

Low voter turnouts, the infighting between the allies DAP and PKR and the dismal performance of PAS and Amanah paved the way for the state's BN coalition to reap its victory.

Some analysts are wondering why a political party like PAS would want to contest in the Sarawak elections, given its unpopularity in the state. And moreover it has been having a close working relationship with Umno over the last two or three years.

Sarawak BN's victory could have taken many by surprise. Although the elections were important for Prime Minister Najib Razak to test his popularity in the east coast state of Sarawak - especially in light of the serious allegations of corruption against him - the gain was more significant to Adenan and his team. Why so?

Keeping Umno out

As I have said before, the victory was crucial for Adenan not so much to stop the inroads of the opposition into the state, but rather to extinguish any desires on the part of Umno to gain a foothold in the state.

What had happened in Sabah under PBS was something that was fresh in the mind of Adenan and from the start, he was careful to play his cards right so as not to give an opportunity or excuse for Umno to do what it did in Sabah.

Even before the elections, Adenan made it very clear that there was no necessity for Umno to come into Sarawak to contest as a political party. Since the state BN coalition was pretty much intact, Umno just had to rely on the local coalition.

Adenan is fully aware of the sentiments and views of the people in Sarawak especially the natives. Anti-peninsular sentiments are slowing rising in the state over the years on questions such as autonomy, the encroachment of the federal government on matters that are reserved for the state, the sharing of revenue especially on oil and gas and on many others matters.

Even before the elections, both the state and federal governments had concluded the first round of talks on Sarawak's autonomy, and apparently 13 issues were resolved.

The second round of talks is being planned within the coming period.

In the second round, given the election victory, Adenan and his team would be more aggressive in their approach. I doubt the federal government would want to drag their feet on the matter for too long.

Voters taking on Putrajaya

Adenan's victory was not just a triumph over the opposition but an achievement basically to check and balance the larger BN coalition, Umno in particular.

Now with this victory, Adenan would be in a much better position to take part in the second round of negotiations with the federal government on the question of the autonomy of Sarawak.

This was something that the PBS overlooked in Sabah, and that paved the way for the eventual entry of Umno taking the place of Usno.

Najib Razak should not glow over the fact that the Sarawak election did not give importance to GST or the 1MBD scandal. These issues might not have galvanised the people in Sarawak, but the primary purpose of the state elections was for the people of Sarawak to flex their muscles against the federal government.

It would be naive on the part of Najib or his cabinet if they have overlooked this factor in their calculations.

The opposition parties may have lost badly in this election, but surely they have no grounds to complain if the elections actually provided an avenue for the people in the state to exercise their right to negotiate what rightfully belongs to them.

Even if the opposition did not win enough seats, they have been always supportive of the rights of Sarawakians. Over the years, DAP has always fought for the rights and autonomy of Sarawakians.

Rather than seeing the victory as the victory of BN, it should be seen as the victory of Sarawakians over the "neo-colonising" tendencies of the federal government, with Umno occupying a preponderant role.

First step towards autonomy

What is important is not for the opposition just to win seats, but rather address how they can perform the historic role of reflecting and articulating the demands of the Sarawakians to have a bigger say in the running of the state.

The fact that Adenan and his state coalition partners are in the BN does not diminish their struggle for wanting more rights for Sarawakians. The representational platform for the BN coalition partners might be problematic, but at the present juncture alternative choices are limited.

Adenan might have taken a very important step in the direction of meaningful autonomy for Sarawak, but then he might not be the last person to do so.

Once the movement for autonomy and rights of Sarawakians gains momentum, no Sarawak political leader worthy of his name could ignore this fundamental demand.

Whether the Sarawak BN coalition wins in the next round will all depend on whether Adenan and his team would be able to obtain significant concessions from the federal government on the matter of the state's autonomy.

If the federal leaders drag their feet on this, then sentiments in Sarawak might not be conducive for electoral jubilance the next time around.

P RAMASAMY is Deputy Chief Minister II of Penang and the DAP state assemblyperson for Perai.