After more than 2 years of Adenan’s talk about Sarawak autonomy, we the common Sarawakians have seen none of such autonomy, nor have we enjoyed any benefit of the so-called autonomy that Adenan has bragged about all these 2 years.
In fact, after the Sarawak State election, Adenan has now relegated the negotiation for autonomy to submitting memorandum.
By the act of “submitting memorandum”, it is an admission of subordination rather than the “equal partner” of Sarawak and the Federal Government as envisaged by the founding fathers of Malaysia.
In all the cases, the ones who “submit memorandum” are the ones who has no power to make the decision or policy.
Before the Sarawak State Elections, Adenan told Sarawakians that he will “negotiate”, on equal footing, with the Federal Government for the devolution of power to Sarawak. Now, he has retreated to submitting memorandum to Najib. It seems that after the Sarawak State Elections, the relationship between the Federal Government and Sarawak has returned to the previous “Master and slave” relationship.
Such change of positions cannot be more glaring than the fact that, before the Sarawak State Elections, Najib claimed that he visited Sarawak more than 53 times, thus showing his love for Sarawak.
However, it has been 2 months since the State Elections, if my recollection is correct, Najib has not visited Sarawak since then. It seems that Najib has “STOPPED LOVING” Sarawak after BN had a landslide victory in Sarawak State Elections.
Another fact showing the drastic change of position is the allocation for Pan Borneo Highway project. Before the State Elections, the allocation for Pan Borneo Highway projects was supposed to be “over and above” the normal development allocation for Sarawak, ie. additional development allocation. However, after the State Elections, it is revealed that the allocation for Pan Borneo Highway projects is taken from the normal development allocation for Sarawak, no extra development allocation.
All Sarawakians (including the Sarawak BN) must be made aware of the fact that BN is practising centralisation of power. To demand UMNO and the Federal Government to devolve important powers to Sarawak is tantamount to asking for the moon.
If Adenan is true to his words that he wants more powers and autonomy for Sarawak, the only way is for Sarawak BN to quit the UMNO-controlled BN and to form a third force capable of tilting the balance of power in PUTRAJAYA.
So long as Sarawak BN and Adenan remain loyal to Najib, Najib and UMNO will continue to hold on to these power.