“Intending candidates for the forthcoming state election will be considered job seekers. They will be interviewed by the people.”
Jaban warned that if the politicians don’t turn up for the debate, “they will face the people’s wrath at the ballot box”.
He expects the six big parties in particular to be represented at the debate by their party heads. “There will be international observers from the UN, human rights groups, NGOs and the media.”
Jaban listed the six parties as Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and the Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (Supp), all from the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) Sarawak and three parties from the Opposition, Democratic Action Party (DAP), Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah). “Other parties, both from the BN and the local opposition, will be invited too.”
Diving into the details on the format for the debate, he explained that since the rakyat were the towkays, and the politicians were the applicants asking for a five-year contract, “we want to know what they are going to do to fulfill the terms of their employment contracts”.
He was taking his cue from Senior Sarawak Minister, James Masing, warning the people recently against the “lawan towkay” (fight the boss) mindset, implying that the politicians were the bosses or towkays.
Jaban charged that in the past, elected representatives have been caught sleeping on the job or working for themselves and not their towkays. “It’s this that has brought Sarawak to the difficult position that it finds itself in now, with freedoms eroded and safeguards ignored,” added Jaban who, not so long ago, was in political exile in England. “Some 300,000 people, representing the three million people of Sarawak, have signed the S4S Petition for Change.”
Briefly, continued Jaban, the people want aspiring candidates to produce a road map, “so that we can decide whether they deserve our trust”.
He recalled that no one in Sarawak was talking about Full Autonomy before the “massive” S4S gathering on July 22 last year, the state’s Independence Day. “Now, we have given the politicians a campaign platform to stand on, to work on it.”
“We don’t want mere words and empty promises from them. They must produce a well thought out plan — the road map — that we can judge on its merits.”
He conceded that the administrative autonomy offered by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to Sarawak Chief Minister Adenan Satem “was a good step but not enough. It’s just an initial step, just the beginning on a long journey”.
Under Najib’s Devolution Plan, Putrajaya will hand over control of certain Federal Departments in Borneo to either the control of locals or the Sabah and Sarawak Governments as the case may be. The idea was to eliminate the wastage arising from duplication of functions by the Federal and respective state governments.
The debate on April 10 will be held at the Kenyalang Park Theatre in Kuching from 1.30 pm to 5 pm. Further details can be obtained from the Moderator, Karen Shepherd, at 016 860 5272.