COMMENT | Bersatu chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad recently announced that his party would make its presence felt in Sarawak.

He said that since Pakatan Harapan parties like DAP, PKR and Amanah were already in the state, it is time for Bersatu to make its presence felt as well. Mahathir also claimed that there were calls from Sarawakians for the party to establish itself there.

Similarly, some quarters in Umno have also expressed interest to enter Sarawak. Umno veterans club secretary-general Mustapha Yaakub recently stated that the withdrawal of BN component parties in Sarawak has paved the way for Umno’s entry.

“In truth, Umno has existed for a long time in Sarawak. Because of objections by Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu, Sarawak Umno had to take a back seat.

“And now, it is time for Sarawak Umno to spread its wings. We are confident that Sarawak will throw their support behind Umno,” Mustapha reportedly said.

It’s now very clear. BN is dead. All its former component parties are going their own way, particularly those in Sabah and Sarawak.

In Sarawak, the four ex-BN parties had decided to dissolve BN and formed their own political coalition, Gabungan Parti Sarawak. GPS is on its own and no longer answerable to their BN bosses in Umno as was the case in the past.

Now that the political realignment is official between PBB and Umno, there is nothing to prevent Umno from making its presence in Sarawak. PBB has no right to thwart such a move.

It is a fact that Umno had always harboured intentions to establish its presence in Sarawak. Umno, the backbone of the BN coalition which had ruled the nation for 61 years, had branches in every state, except Sarawak.

In the late 1970s, the now defunct Parti Rakyat Jati Sarawak (Pajar), led by its president Ali Kawi, was the first local group that wanted to bring Umno into Sarawak.

In 2001, former PBB deputy president Abang Abu Bakar Abang Mustapha, who had fallen out of favour with his party leadership, was also an Umno promoter in Sarawak.

But Umno presidents at that time, namely the late Hussein Onn and Dr Mahathir Mohamad, acceded to PBB’s repeated requests not to set up branches in Sarawak. The party's leaders had stressed then that “PBB was already Umno in Sarawak.”

Now that the political landscape has changed after GE14, no one can really prevent Umno from setting up branches in the state, certainly not PBB.

And so it is with Bersatu. This is a free country, and all legally registered political parties can set up divisions or branches everywhere.

Are they welcome?

But will Umno or Bersatu be welcomed in Sarawak? Already, there is resistance.

PBB vice-president Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah (photo) has ticked off Mustapha for suggesting that Umno would spread its wings to Sarawak following the withdrawal of the state’s four ruling parties from BN.

Karim said such suggestion only showed that Mustapha was living in fantasy and oblivious to the many changes already taking place in the political arena.

“Just like humans, political parties also need to adapt to changes. The action of the four parties previously under Sarawak BN to quit BN and form a new coalition was made because of this need.

“There is no need for him to sulk and be upset,” he was quoted as saying in a Sarawak daily.

As for Bersatu, an unknown group held a rally in Kuching on Sunday morning to protest against Mahathir’s party coming to Sarawak.

It seems that not everyone is happy with the moves by Bersatu and Umno. Sarawakians are still wary of Umno’s ultra-Malay stand and policies, and they probably think that Bersatu is the same.

And who do Bersatu and Umno hope to recruit in Sarawak? They are both Malay parties. The Malay community in the state are quite well represented in PBB and PKR.

Perhaps it makes more sense for Bersatu to concentrate on running the country and Umno to dutifully play its role as the main opposition group for now. Why the rush to go into Sarawak when you will not really be welcomed with open arms?

As it is, there are already too many political parties in Sarawak. I’m not sure there is a pressing need for more. Anyway, why be the cause of Sarawakians to be more fragmented politically?

But I must also state this clearly. Whether Bersatu or Umno are able to gain a foothold in Sarawak does not really matter. What matters now is that there is nothing to prevent the parties from setting up branches in the hornbill state.

Umno has every right to do so. And so does Bersatu.

FRANCIS PAUL SIAH heads the Movement for Change, Sarawak (MoCS) and can be reached at sirsiah@gmail.com

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.