Sarawak Dayaks need to review their political position: Political observers

KUCHING: The Dayaks in Sarawak need to review their political position and this needs some degree of sacrifice, said a political observer.
Andrew Nyabe, a former political secretary to a former Sarawak chief minister said the Dayaks should have the willingness to put themselves into one single political body so as to move as a united group, without which it would be futile to push on issues critical to the Dayak community.
"The inability of the Dayaks to speak as one voice is being taken advantage of by others who fear that Dayak unity will put the Dayaks in a position of power," Nyabe told Bernama here today.
Nyabe, a Bidayuh stood as a DAP candidate in Kedup constituency in the last state general election but lost to Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate from Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Martin Ben.
Currently, the Dayak seats in the 82-member Sarawak state legislative assembly and at the federal level are fragmented in PBB, Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), United People's Party (UPP), DAP and PKR.

Another Dayak political observer, Gines Ruwia said the Dayaks were very far lagging behind despite being already more than 50 years under BN rule and now Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) which many believed to be BN wearing a new shirt.
Apparently, the system that the Dayaks had so much advocated to did not work to their advantage, said Gines, who is Parti Teras central executive committee (CEC) member and former CEC member of Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP), now known as PDP.
"The reason is glaring enough that not only we lack the leadership to champion our cause but we lack cohesiveness.
"The fragmentation of the Dayaks was deliberate in an attempt to weaken them so that without power in their hand, the Dayaks were relying on others for their voices that were never being heard.
"With politics of dominance being practised, our fragmentation would never give us the chance to be dominant instead we were used as objects to strengthen others while the Dayaks were praised for exercising tolerance," he said.
He said Pakatan Harapan's victory in the 14th general election was an eye opener for the Dayaks because if they closed rank as a cohesive unit they would have the strength to weather the odds.
Gines said BN was not a reliable platform for the Dayaks to seek refuge or chart their destiny which is purely of Dayak affairs, not in the company of others.
"I strongly advocate the formation of a purely Dayak-based platform in which we will grow and eventually passed on to our future generations to continue with our struggle," he said.
Nonetheless, he was hopeful in the background of diversity with adversity, the Dayaks would work together with other races in bringing Malaysia to great heights in a clean environment free of abuses and corruption.
Collectively the Dayak community in Sarawak accounted for over 40 per cent of the state's population of 2.5 million, according to the 2010 census. — Bernama