“The others have so far not indicated that they will be sending their representatives,” said Peter John Jaban, S4S chief and organising chairman for the debate. “They are scared to face the rakyat.”
Any politician who feels he can afford to put at risk the votes of Sarawakians must be either extremely arrogant or very confident that the system will deliver the result, whether he responds to the rakyat or not, ventured Jaban.
“Given the widespread manipulation of constituencies, both by numbers and along ethnic lines, it’s no surprise that they are arrogant.”
He disclosed that PRS President James Masing had said he had more “important priorities” when turning down the invitation to debate; Abang Johari said the chief minister does not need to attend, while Sarawak DAP Chairman Chong Chieng Jen “has come up with all kinds of excuses that do not hold up”.
If Chong has the courage to fight, said Jaban, then he must show it. “The event has already received police approval and we have, of course, taken the appropriate legal advice. So, it seems somewhat redundant to claim that it’s illegal as a reason for not attending.
“S4S will advise the people to vote accordingly. The election is only one day, the five years in between is what really counts. The last 53 years have given all the incumbents a very poor record.”
He added that only Sarawak PKR had the courage to send its party leader, Baru Bian, while SUPP will send a representative.
“The debate remains a chance for the rakyat to air their views and have them heard by the politicians as well as hear what these two parties have to say.
“For those parties which choose not to attend, the message they are sending is clear: their focus is on winning the election and not safeguarding Sarawak.”
Sarawakians are fed up with the feudal mentality of politicians in the state, continued Jaban. “Those who fail to see the writing on the wall and maintain their ‘jangan lawan towkay’ (“don’t fight the boss”) approach to the rakyat will be punished by them at the polls.”
Norway, the country widely considered to have the best functioning democracy in the world, conducts political debates in the campaign period, while in America, noted Jaban, political debates are considered an integral part of the democratic process.
“In the UK, petitions with over 100,000 signatures are usually brought up in Parliament and they have a population of over 60 million.
“The S4S petition for full autonomy has 300,000 signatures.”