KUCHING: Julau MP Larry Sng’s decision to resign from Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) was not surprising and was even expected, according to political analysts.
University of Malaya socio-political analyst Assoc Prof Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi commented that while Sng is known for changing his stance in the political arena, he felt the move would enable the MP to secure more development funds for his constituency.
Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi
“Sng’s action to resign from PKR is not a surprising one. He had previously joined Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak, Parti Rakyat Sarawak, founded Sarawak Workers Party, and then became an independent elected representative.
“The resignation was a good move for him so that he can gain more allocations for the development in his constituency, as the constituents there had not enjoyed the development when he was part of the opposition,” said Awang Azman when contacted Monday.
He believes that Sng’s exit from PKR and subsequent support for the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government is due to the fact that Pakatan Harapan (PH) is no longer the government of the day and thus unable to promise him anything compared to PN.
Nevertheless, he deemed Sng’s exit as a blessing in disguise for PKR Sarawak who could now conduct ‘cleansing’ in the party.
“PKR’s strength lies in its mid-level leadership who have long served the party. The top leaders were seen as not having the initiative and thus many people were not attracted to its leadership.
“As such, if PKR wants to move on, they need to give way to professionals and those who have long-served the party to be in the frontline for the coming state election,” said Awang Azman.
Prof James Chin, who is Professor of Asian Studies at University of Tasmania in Australia, also said Sng’s resignation was a widely expected move.
“In fact, he did try to resign once already but they (PKR) asked him to stay back,” he said, referring to Sng’s attempt to resign as PKR Sarawak chairman in December last year.
James Chin
Chin believes Sng had made the calculation that PKR would fare badly in the coming state election, especially following the exit of Selangau MP Baru Bian and other party heavyweights during and in the aftermath of last year’s political crisis.
Sng, who won as an independent in the 2018 general election and joined PKR in May that same year, was appointed as the party’s Sarawak chairman in March 2020 to replace Baru following the latter’s resignation the previous month during the crisis that saw the collapse of the then PH federal government.
“With Sng having led PKR Sarawak for only a little while, he has not really had the chance to rebuild it and thus the impact will not be significant in terms of leadership.
“The impact will be more on the party’s preparations for the next state election. I think in the opposition side, PKR was already in trouble even before he (Sng) came in.
“PKR has very limited time so they better get moving to get a new chief elected in Sarawak,” said Chin.
Adding on, he said PKR is now in need of someone who can take over the reins in Sarawak in time for the state election which is due this year, but pointed out that this would be a hard task as many senior leaders in the state had left the party together with Baru.
“It is difficult to find a senior leader who is willing to take on the job now because the PKR that was built during Baru Bian’s time (as state chairman) – all of them have left.
“There are very few senior leaders left in the party (in Sarawak). The only senior leader who was at the start of PKR is Dominique Ng, but his influence is basically in Kuching only,” said Chin.
Meanwhile, political scientist Prof Dr Jayum Jawan of Universiti Putra Malaysia said Sng’s exit from PKR would not affect the party in any way, deeming the Julau MP’s presence as not relevant among the Dayaks who form the majority of the party’s membership base in Sarawak.
He said although Julau is an Iban-majority constituency, this did not mean Sng represented the Dayak community in politics whether in the state or nationally.
Dr Jayum Jawan
“To be fair to PKR, the party does not need the boy (Sng) to stay relevant and strong in national and Sarawak politics. His presence in PKR did not give any advantage to PKR, and neither will his exit affect PKR in any way,” he added.
Jayum contended that if PKR wants to make substantial gains in Sarawak especially among the Dayaks, it would need to appoint a Dayak of some standing to lead the state chapter.
“Having a Dayak leader in PKR really matters as politics in Sarawak and Malaysia is still dictated by ethnicity,” he said.