The PBDS (Parti Bersatu Dayak Sarawak) de-registration does not come as a surprise to me, let alone the subsequent establishment of PRS (Parti Rakyat Sarawak). This is the problem in Sabah and Sarawak where political leaders will never set aside their egos to arrive at a mutual solution to end their misunderstandings.

In the PBDS case, it is quite obvious that James Masing and his close allies will chart their new political direction with the newly established PRS. As for Daniel Tajem, the only hope left for him is to pursue his legal means to ensure PBDS' de-registration is declared null and void. However, Tajem's hope will probably not materialise as the PRS has already been approved and given a lease of life.

The PBDS deregistration is indeed a sad day for the Dayaks in Sarawak. Not only was the party instrumental in representing the Dayaks' aspiration in nation-building, it was also obvious that its struggle had been quite relevant to the Dayaks, particularly during the tenure of Leo Moggie as president.

If anything, the problem that has been plaguing the Dayaks in Sarawak parallels with the problem faced by the Kadazandusuns in Sabah. Initially, under the PBS (Parti Bersatu Sabah) rule, the Kadazandusuns had been comfortably united under the leadership of Joseph Pairin Kitingan, considered as the Huguan Siou (paramount leader) of the largest ethnic group in Sabah.

Although PBS was formed based on a multiethnic platform, the Kadazandusuns had been quite consistent in rendering their undivided support to Pairin. However, when more and more ambitious Kadazandusun leaders wanted to pursue their political agenda at the expense of the ordinary Kadazandusuns, Pairin and PBS were left with bad bruises which healed only after the party was officially admitted into the BN (Barisan National) fold.

Now, the Kadazandusuns are in the midst of disuniting further as a result of irreconcilable political differences among the Kadazandusun-based parties. The political struggle among members of the Dayak and Kadazandusun-based parties has proved to be detrimental to the ordinary people. Not only are they marginalised politically, but they also lagging behind in terms of socio-economic development.

With all the sophisticated and comprehensive policies introduced by the government, the Dayaks and Kadazandusuns are still the ones who have failed to gain benefits from them. Not because of their own incompetence or ignorance but simply because of the political leaders' attitude of overlooking and de-prioritising their people's needs.

Looking at the above scenario, one should not blame the ordinary Dayaks and Kadazandusuns for their backwardness particularly in the socio-economic aspect. One should not also call for a change of attitude amongst the ordinary Dayaks and Kadazandusuns simply because they reject leaders that they think are incompetent to lead them.

Political leaders should first change their attitude and mentality if they desire to change the minds of ordinary people. The great Winston Churchil once said: 'The price of greatness is responsibility'. Thus, since many Dayak and Kadazandusun politicians want to be 'great' nowadays, they must first be responsible in addressing the people's needs.

Otherwise, greatness will remain futile and temporal in nature. If political leaders from both these communities do not change their political mentality and culture, the Kadazandusuns and Dayaks will remain irrelevant in Malaysia's mainstream development, let alone be recognised as progressive ethnic communities in Malaysia. Already, the Dayaks and Kadazandusuns are far from being developed and are not recognised compared to other ethnic groups in Malaysia.

The PBDS deregistration is yet another predicament for Sarawak's politics. Will such predicament also happen again in Sabah? Only time will tell. It is our (the so-called bumiputera people of Sabah and Sarawak) political culture anyway.