IT IS never easy to quit on power.
After having it for some time, it can be hard to leave home without it.
That was the impression PBS president, Joseph Pairin gave at the just-concluded 31st PBS Congress held at the Hongkod Koisaan building here.
It was reported much earlier that the deputy president, Dr. Maximus Ongkili would lead the party to face the 14th General Elections, which is (now heavily) expected sometime next year.
And the Congress would endorse his takeover as the new leader of the party.
What was agreed instead, Pairin would still lead the party but would not defend his State (Tambunan) or MP (Keningau) seats.
It looks like Dr. Max has no choice now but to wait after the elections if it is ever going to happen for him to take over.
While he appears to be the only party heavy weight around as the rightful heir, there seem to be some detractors who see him very much a Putrajaya man, having been in the federal cabinet for so long.
There are those who contend that the coming elections will focus more on State Rights, to have someone who has been with the federal cabinet for so long will bring more problems than solutions to the party.
The image won’t be quite right.
Therefore, Pairin is still needed to steady the ship.
He did say at the Congress he was looking forward to his retirement which is long overdue; after all he is 76 years old and the grand old man (grandfather actually) of Sabah politics.
He wants to play with his grandchildren and write a book.
And 99% he would not defend his seats, he said.
If you are the type who likes to place a wager, do not discount the 1%.
POLITICAL HORSE TRADING (IN SARAWAK)
What u -turn.
From being a loud State Rights advocate as found in the Malaysia Agreement (MA63), Sarawak Chief Minister, Adenan Satem has had a change of mind or heart.
He had said earlier he would table a comprehensive motion at the (ongoing) State Assembly sitting from November 21st to 30th; which would bring back the state’s status to what it was in 1963.
Then he was quoted as saying In view of what Prime Minister, Najib Razak had said in Sabah recently that the Federal Government was open for discussions on MA63, the proposed motion would not be tabled now.
And he would not adopt the confrontational approach anymore.
How is that tabling a motion in the State Assembly pertaining to your State Rights as guaranteed in MA63 is considered confrontational?
Sarawak did pass a motion on State Rights on December 2015, maybe it is not necessary a second time around.
Of course parties who disagree with Adenan’s new approach are very unhappy with him. They see it as a betrayal after leading them up the garden path.
Then, we are not privy to the private conversations between him (Adenan) and Najib.
However, it is very clear that there is this you-scratch-my-back-and-I’ll-scratch-yours is in order here.
It’s called political horse trading.
Whatever it is, both parties must come to some kind of agreement. It cannot be an open ended affair.
There must be a conclusion soon. It cannot be allowed to go on for another 50 years.
To a layman, it doesnt look that difficult, it is a matter of compliance to what was agreed on in 1963.
And international arbitration should not be the last resort.
ATTITUDE TOWARDS WORK NEEDS TO BE BETTER
It took the Japanese a week to reopen a busy street in Fukuoka that collapsed into a giant sinkhole.
The sinkhole was triggered by subway construction in that area, which had exposed the support columns of nearby buildings at a traffic intersection.
You could not help but feel amazed at this quick recovery.
We too had the same incident here, one sinkhole along Likas road and another one near the Likas petrol station.
While the sinkholes were not as big, the response time was not as fast.
How then would we cope with a sinkhole measuring 30 metres wide and 15 metres deep in the middle of a busy highway?
While we are not short of expertise, our maintenance culture leaves much to be desired.
And our attitude towards work needs to be better.
Accountability and transparency are sadly missing.
That is why Japan is First World and we are forever stuck in d developing world category.
- Fly on the Wall is a Sunday column. Due to technical problems, this article was delayed. Due to technical reasons, this week’s article was delayed. We apologise for that. Now our guest columnist would like BorneoToday readers to comment on his arguments. You can address them to [email protected] We will publish your comments unless you say no.
