Najib's Neck Is On The Line In Sarawak

Written by  Jason Tan, Malaysia Chronicle

The upcoming Sarawak state elections is dubbed as one of the most crucial in Malaysian history. Results of the elections would inevitably serve as a barometer for the next general elections. This would also be the time for Prime Minister Najib Razak to prove that his illustrious 'One Malaysia' is not a fluke and an empty slogan after all.

Yet, the appeal filed by the Attorney-General Chambers against the High Court decision of allowing the usage of the word 'Allah' by Christians, as well as the demanding conditions imposed upon the Malay bible had instantly proved his slogan otherwise. One would also remember vividly how Najib's aides requested for the removal of crucifixes and the banning of hymns in a church last year. These incidents had certainly brought freedom of religion to a new low, and would certainly impact on the Sarawak elections, where the majority of Sarawakians are Christians.

The recent rallies of the Pakatan Rakyat are also true testaments that the wind of change had blown across the South China Sea. The majority of semi-urban and urban constituency in Sarawak is currently experiencing what the Peninsula went through before the last general elections. Moods and spirits are sky high, that after 30 years, the Taib Mahmud regime will be overthrown.

But the state's rural areas, especially strongholds of the BN coalition, are still viewed as being reluctant to vote for a change. Along the years, rural Sarawak natives were distributed goodies comes an election. They were also threatened by Barisan Nasional that development would only come if one votes for BN. Unsurprisingly, these promises of development were never fulfilled. Instead, development towards Taib Mahmud's long list of properties blossom on an ever-expanding scale.

With a tainted Chief Minister, Najib had took matters into his own hands by sparking off a series of intensive campaigning in Sarawak. He had also openly declared the need for a leadership transition, thus stamping his authority as BN Chairman and effectively snubbed Taib Mahmud and the Sarawakcomponent parties.

Yet, Najib's presence in Sarawak was greeted with a helicopter crash in Sibu, and it was reported that the helicopter was ferrying the deputy prime minister's entourage. One might ponder if this is an indication that the Barisan Nasional coalition government is on their way to a free fall crash in the elections.

With Najib seemingly taking over and assuming responsibility for the Sarawak state elections, he is putting himself at enormous risk if the Sarawak BN coalition doesn't meet the expectations.

Failure to form the next state government or being denied two-thirds majority would spell trouble for the first-term Prime Minister. What more when millions had been pumped into Sarawak to finance their vote-buying, goodies-giving, lavish-spending and SNAP-extorting acts.

And with brewing public sentiments on the death of Customs staff, Ahmad Sarbani as well as the on-going Royal Commission of Inquiry for Teoh Beng Hock's death back over in Peninsula, Najib's position as Prime Minister and UMNO president is definitely on the line.