Its past glory was not enough to keep Sarawak Nasional Party alive in the recently concluded Sarawak elections.
KUCHING: After a severe beating in Saturday’s polls, Sarawak National Party (SNAP) has now withdrawn into a corner licking its wounds.
“This defeat is not only shameful, but questions are being asked whether the party continues to be relevant or not,” said a former SNAP minister and leader.
The leader, who refused to be named, was an assistant minister in the good old days of the party in 1970s and 1980s.
All the 27 candidates of the party lost heavily in the rural areas which it claimed to be its traditional homeground and strongholds.
Except for Tedong Anak Gunda in Pakan, all of its candidates including its president Edwin Dundang lost their deposits.
Dundang managed to secure 281 votes in the party’s so-called stronghold since September 1963 until November 2002 – a period of 39 years.
In Pakan, Tedong Gunda secured 2,741 votes. He was up against five-term incumbent SPDP president William Mawan Ikom.
SNAP had reportedly focused its might on Pakan, hoping to win the seat and redeem itself in the eyes of the public following disclosures that it was being secretly funded by the Barisan Nasional (BN).
The recently concluded state election was SNAP’s second outing (the first was in 2006) after it was forced to leave the BN.
Following this crisis, SNAP’s fortunes began to dip after nine of its elected representatives and senior party leaders left the party to form Sarwak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) due to the leadership crisis in 2002.
With this boost, SPDP was immediately accepted to join the Sarawak BN.
Cocky SNAP
Adding to SNAP’s problem was the fact that it had been deregistered by the Registrar of Societies, a move allegedly engineered by Chief Minsiter Taib Mahmud.
But the party appealed for a stay of execution.
Following the Court of Appeal’s decision to remove the ROS’s order (dereigstration) in June last year, SNAP started to rebrand and rejunavate itself, riding on its past glory.
Its re-branding campaign earlier this year attracted a number of ex-Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) leaders as well as some financiers from peninsular Malaysia.
But things were not moving even though some financial resources had been given to them.
Their lack of planning and speed forced some financial supporters to withdraw.
Also noted were the fact that educated Dayak leaders with political potential were reluctant to join the party under the existing leadership.
The bickering between SNAP and PKR, too, did not help.
“Talking big” SNAP had insisted that it should be the dominant party in Sarawak and not PKR or DAP.
“We must be given the leading role in Sarawak Pakatan Rakyat,” Dudang had reportedly said, adding that “the party with its glorious past and representing the Dayak communiuty should take the lead”.
Dundang, who boasted that SNAP “had branches statewide” with 123,000 memebers, said SNAP was “insulted by PKR”, which offered the former three seats to contest in the spirit of partnership.
Dundang had demanded that PKR stay away from the 48 constitituencies, 29 of which were Dayak-majority seats, it was constesting in.
SNAP secretary-general Stanley Jugol had even suggested that PKR candidates should contest using SNAP’s symbol.
“We are more popular than PKR,” he had stubbornly declared.
PKR, however, was adamant. It had been preparing for this state election since 2006. It knew the turf better.
On Saturday, PKR won three seats, two more than their win in 2006. But wins, they nonetheless were.
The party contested in 49 seats and its candidates were the only real rivals to Sarawak BN.
Sarawak BN won 55 seats while the opposition coalition of DAP, PKR and PAS won 16 seats. An independent in Pelagus won one seat. PAS lost in all five seats it contested in.
