Awang Tengah seen as likely successor to Johari as Sarawak premier

Sarawak deputy premier Awang Tengah Ali Hassan is seen as the likely successor to Abang Johari Openg as Sarawak premier should the latter make way for a successor, says a political analyst.

Abang Johari recently hinted at a PBB event that he might no longer serve as Sarawak premier after the next state election. He has been Sarawak premier since January 2017, when he took over from Adenan Satem, who died of a heart attack while in office.

Political analyst Jayum Jawan of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia said Awang Tengah is the deputy president of the dominant Bumiputera wing of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu. Party tradition dictates that former deputy presidents from the Bumiputera wing become the natural successors to the party presidency, he said.

“If party tradition is to be followed, the leading candidate would have to be Awang Tengah,” he told FMT.

Another analyst, James Chin of the University of Tasmania, said several names had been floated to succeed Abang Johari. However, Chin stopped short of revealing them as the candidates could change over the next couple of years.

He said whoever is tipped to succeed Abang Johari will be a Muslim, although the person need not necessarily come from the Sarawakian Malay or Melanau communities and could be from other ethnic groups.

“(There is) also an unwritten criterion that whoever replaces Abang Johari must have at least as strong, or stronger, a pro-Sarawak sentiment than Abang Johari. In other words, the Sarawak-first sentiment is super strong in the state, and whoever doesn’t play that game has no chance of getting to the top,” he added.

Orderly change expected

Jayum and Awang Azman Awang Pawi of Universiti Malaya expect a smooth transfer of power from Abang Johari to his successor, owing to PBB’s long-established intra-party discipline.

Awang Azman said contests for top PBB positions are often resolved through consensus and without open competition, as shown at the party elections last year, in which the president, two deputy presidents and two senior vice-presidents were retained without contest.

“This is part of the long-established political culture of PBB, characterised by loyalty to party institutions, organisational discipline, deliberation and avoiding open leadership conflicts.

“That culture developed throughout the era of Taib Mahmud, continued during Adenan’s time and now under Abang Johari. So, if the succession process takes place, it is more reasonable to view it as a process of seeking consensus rather than an open contest,” he added.

No Dayak premier in sight

Both Chin and Jayum dismissed the possibility of a non-Muslim Dayak politician becoming the next Sarawak premier, with Chin saying the chances were slim because a Malay or Melanau Muslim was always expected to hold the post.

Jayum said there was no single Dayak leader capable of taking on the premiership, with some leading figures from the Pesaka wing and state ministers being merely “territorial leaders” who were too focused on their constituencies.

He said their narrow outlooks made them unsuited to lead the party, whose leadership is expected to represent the Malay, Melanau and Dayak communities within PBB and beyond, including the Chinese community in Sarawak.

“History has shown that Dayaks play second fiddle to the Malay and Melanau groups within PBB. This would not change, as none are capable of rising to that position. The best they can hope for is the deputy premiership,” he added.

However, Awang Azman said current political developments in Sarawak increasingly showed that the question was no longer as simple as a “Dayak or Malay-Melanau premier”.

The key criteria were acceptance within PBB and GPS, the ability to win a majority of state seats, administrative experience, the ability to maintain Sarawak’s autonomy and interests, and the ability to preserve harmony in a multi-ethnic society, he said.

“Abang Johari’s replacement should not be viewed as an ethnic competition or a race issue. If we follow seniority within PBB today, Douglas Uggah Embas and Awang Tengah hold the deputy president posts, followed by Fadillah Yusof and Stephen Rundi as senior vice-presidents.

“But the final decision heavily depends on the internal consensus of PBB, GPS’s unity, majority support, and, of course, the views and transition process shaped by Abang Johari himself,” Awang Azman said.

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