As the state election draws nearer, the Democratic Action Party (DAP) appeared to have been caught in its own charade, much to the bewilderment of its members and amusement of other political parties, both the ruling Barisan Nasional and opposition Barisan Alternatif.
DAP's Jason Wong Sing Nang's Friday announcement that he was quitting from all party posts and from the party itself because of what he described as the national leadership's continued association with the Islamic Party (PAS), poignantly suggesting the implications of that alliance on the non-Muslim community and DAP.
Jason Wong is a respected Sibu lawyer who was first elected as a member of parliament beating another Chinese-based party, Sarawak United People's Party's (SUPP) Tieu Sung Seng in 1990 but lost the seat to timber tycoon Tiong Thai King of SUPP in 1995. He made a comeback later and surprised many by beating SUPP's Vincent Goh Chung Siong in the 1997 state elections which saw a sudden swing of mood against the ruling Sarawak Barisan Nasional in several urban constituencies.
His now erstwhile party colleague Wong Ho Leng, also a lawyer, shocked the BN when he unseated the then seemingly invincible Dr Wong Soon Kai, the SUPP president and deputy chief minister.
The DAP even took the Kidurong state in Bintulu by beating SUPP's Michael Sim but later the High Court ruled the result invalid and a by-election was held and Sim managed to get the seat back.
Jason Wong had been a senior DAP Sarawak leader and certainly one of its pillars for many years. But in recent years, however, there had been a noticeable change in the tone of his rhetorics both inside and outside the Sarawak state assembly.
As DAP's elected representative, he had spoken in support of a number of crucial government bills, including the all-important amendments to the Sarawak Land Code, which in effect allow big plantation interests to help the state government develop Native Customary Rights (NCR) lands, belonging to mostly interior communities such as the Dayaks, provided that the landowners consent to the development projects and benefit from them too.
So much so that Jason Wong was often described as a BN supporter, something which he allowed to be said without any comment. Recently, there were rumours that he was leaving DAP to join his arch political nemesis SUPP, and he denied this.
Not a surprise
His resignation from DAP did not however come as much of a surprise, though. On Friday, when he announced his quit decision he did not deny nor confirm he was joining a Sarawak BN party. He told the Borneo Post "to wait for nomination day" when he was asked whether he would be contesting the elections. The following day, however, he stated he was not interested in joining SUPP.
Chief Minister and Sarawak Barisan supremo Abdul Taib Mahmud, who said Jason Wong struck him as a honest politician and should remain in politics, ruled out any possibility of the former DAP Sarawak chairman being invited to join the BN.
In his reaction to the resignation, Taib said he had always paid a great deal of attention to Jason Wong's speeches in the state assembly as he struck him as a politician genuinely interested in people's welfare.
Sarawak BN leaders, especially Taib, are naturally happy at this new development within DAP coming so close to election time. "The BN, especially PBB, has come under attacks from both Keadilan and PAS in several Malay areas in Sarawak," according to one observer.
"Nothing makes him happier to know that DAP wants to dissociate or distance itself from Barisan Alternatif. It's a plus for BN."
Replying to allegations that he had been offered RM1.5 million to leave DAP, Jason Wong denied this, saying that if he had wanted to be a millionaire he would have been one a long time ago.
Political observers here see a similarity in the ex-DAP leader's role in politics as that of former DAP secretary-general and MP Lee Lam Thye. The former already has a successful legal practice and he is expected to concentrate more on this.
DAP Sarawak chairman Wong Ho Leng described Jason Wong's given reasons for resigning as rather flimsy but added that he would not try and change his mind. Nor did he ask the latter to resign as assemblyman, after Jason Wong said he would remain for the time being as an independent assemblyman.
This will make him the third independent assemblyman after Kebin Wan (an Orang Ulu and former political secretary to the chief minister, who resigned to contest after he was not picked as BN candidate for the Telang Usan (in the Ulu Baram seat) and businessman Yii Chu Lik who beat SUPP's Thomas Hii in Meradong.
Major factor
Most political observers are inclined to agree that the unhappiness with the national leadership's association with Barisan Alternatif, involving both Keadilan and PAS, is certainly one a major factor in Jason Wong leaving the party.
Even former DAP Sarawak strongman and three-times Bandar Kuching member of parliament Sim Kwang Yang and several other young and dynamic leaders with him left the party because they were "disillusioned" with the national leadership. Among the others who left the party much earlier to join Keadilan are lawyer Cheng Hui Hong who has over the years repeatedly failed to win any seat on a DAP ticket, and also another lawyer, Dominique Ng Kim Ho, who is now expected to be a major contender for the Padungan state seat presently held by SUPP's Song Swee Guan.
The young Chinese leaders of both DAP and Keadilan cannot however see eye to eye with each other as both groups are vying for the same urban constituencies throughout Sarawak. No one it seems is prepared to budge, and the DAP Sarawak leaders are worried that national leaders would again - like they did in Lunas - give in to Keadilan's demands in Sarawak.
The Sarawak chief has now come out with a list of 16 state constituencies the party will contest this coming elections. They include all the predominantly Chinese constituencies in Kuching, Sibu, Bintulu and Miri.
Hence the local DAP leaders are pushing the issue on their own, and Jason Wong's resignation is seen also as giving vent to the Sarawak branch's frustration at being halted by the central leadership over choices of constituencies in the context of an opposition pact with Keadilan and PAS. He also sees the DAP's chances of winning again in either Pelawan (which he now represents) and Bukit Assek (represented by DAP's Wong Ho Leng) are much less certain against what appears to be an even more formidable BN represented by a well-organised SUPP.
Before Jason Wong's announcement, SUPP Sibu branch leaders led by their chairman Wong Soon Koh, the minister of infrastructure development and communications, in a show of unity and strength said the party would be going all out to wrest both seats back from the opposition.
Like Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud who is still keeping the date of the election a secret, Jason Wong is not even giving any hint whether he will contest again, much less under what ticket, although there are rumours that he has sent out an olive branch to BN leaders.
Soon Koh however has indicated that Vincent Goh, the deputy chairman of the Sibu Municipal Council, will definitely try again in Pelawan irrespective of whether Sing Nang is re-contesting.
Informed sources say that Jason Wong is going to call it a day in active politics. His reason is that he does not wish to be caught in some legal wrangles anymore involving some SUPP leaders. Some SUPP leaders have sued him for some statements he made in the past regarding land matters in Sibu.
State election fever
The latest development within the opposition DAP is one of several recent indications that the election fever is about to take its grip and that elections could be well around the corner, although Taib could sit out his term and wait till November this year before going to the polls.
According to a source close to a senior PBB leader, the chief minister is still watching developments with Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS), one of the four components of the ruling Sarawak BN, to resolve its internal problems before announcing the election date.
A senior PBDS council member Paul Kadang told malaysiakini : "That is our own problem. We can deal with that," alluding to the recent serious infighting between two factions, culminating in the defeat of the party's senior vice president Dr James Masing at the hands of Daniel Tajem, for the post of deputy president. Most of Masing's men also lost in last year's party polls.
Local newspaper reports suggest that the Tajem's faction is seeking for some replacements among the incumbents, mostly Masing's men. But PBDS youth leader Joseph Entulu said no decision has been taken, and suggested that only the Barisan Nasional chief can decide on the finality of any decision.
According to most observers, problems seem to be mostly internal within parties, in both the Barisan and opposition camps. Quarrels seem to be between personalities or individuals either within the same parties or between parties. None of the parties have yet come out with their election manifestos, indicating also that elections many not be held so soon as anticipated by some people.
It is definitely on this year. March or April? Most bets are on the second quarter, before Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu's (PBB) divisional election meetings in May.
It is no longer a question of whether all the parties are prepared for elections tomorrow. "I think everyone is more than ready," one PBDS leader said.
TONY THIEN is a freelance writer based in Kuching.