SARAWAK: OPPOSITION ADRIFT; INDIGENOUS PEOPLE LACK SERVICES; POLICE REJECT CRITICISM

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KUALA LUMPUR 001935

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/MTS AND DS/IP/ITA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/11/2016
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KDEM KISL MY
SUBJECT: SARAWAK: OPPOSITION ADRIFT; INDIGENOUS PEOPLE LACK SERVICES; POLICE REJECT CRITICISM

REF: A. KUALA LUMPUR 942 B. 05 KUALA LUMPUR 1955

Classified By: Political Section Chief Mark D. Clark for reasons 1.4 b, d.

Summary
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1. (C) We met with political opposition leaders, human rights
advocates and police during an October 2 visit to Sarawak's
state capitol of Kuching. While the nationally active ethnic
Chinese opposition party DAP performed well in the May 20
state assembly election, we found the party has not yet
articulated its political priorities or legislative goals in
Sarawak. Through a combination of the governing coalition's
media ownership and control, political and financial
patronage, and the DAP's apparent lack of a coherent
political agenda, the Barisan Nasional-affiliated governing
coalition will likely remain in firm control of Sarawak.
With regard to protecting the rights of the state's most
vulnerable citizens, one of the 16 commissioners from
Malaysia's government-funded national human rights commission
(Suhakam) condemned the state's "insufficient support" for
impoverished, rural, indigenous persons. Echoing comments we
have heard from other Suhakam commissioners, he said the
government largely ignores Suhakam's recommendations. The
state's second highest ranking cop told us that police
leaders remain vehemently opposed to the contents of last
year's police commission report, and they see no need for
establishment of an independent oversight body. He said the
government has heavily criticized the police without
providing the funding necessary to build a more effective
police force. End Summary.

The Drifting Chinese Opposition
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2. (C) In Sarawak's May 20 state assembly election, the
ethnic Chinese party DAP increased its representation from
one seat to six, thereby establishing itself as the main
opposition party in the state's 71 seat assembly (ref A). We
met with two of those DAP representatives, lawyers Chong
Chieng Jen and Violet Yong. Chong and Yong stated that
during the run-up to the May 20 election, while the
English-language media acted almost entirely as a mouthpiece
for the state's long-governing National Front constituent
parties, the Chinese-language media "provided a surprising
amount of coverage" for opposition candidates. They claimed
the primary campaign issue among their constituents was
"corruption by Chief Minister Taib and his cronies." Chong
said over 1,500 postal votes were recorded in his district by
military men posted outside Sarawak, and he claimed "about
99% of them voted against me." When asked why the National
Front coalition didn't simply increase the number of postal
voters to ensure victory for its candidate, he stated, "They
only have a limited total number of postal votes to apportion
to the various electoral districts, and they simply
misallocated."


3. (C) Chong and Yong said the Sarawak state assembly meets
for only 16 days per year. They questioned the state
government's ongoing RM300 million ($82 million) construction
project to build a 27-storey state assembly building. The
new structure will remain largely empty during the 349 days
when the assembly is not in session. They said Sarawak's
Chief Minister Taib Mahmud ensured the construction contract
was awarded to Cahaya Mata, a large holding company that is
majority-owned by Taib's family. Upon being awarded the
construction contract for RM300 million, Cahaya Mata hired a
subcontracting firm to complete the construction for RM220
million; Cahaya Mata (and the Taib family) pocketed the RM80
million ($22 million) difference. The DAP politicians told
us Taib, whose liver cancer was reportedly brought into
remission earlier in 2006, "will likely die in office."
While the DAP representatives described election fraud in
great detail and articulated their opposition to government
corruption, they could not (or would not) tell us of their
political agenda. Although we asked them several times to
define their political goals, we left the meeting with the
impression that the DAP has no legislative plans or detailed
political priorities - other than maintenance of their seats
in the next state election.

Enfeebled Suhakam Fights Losing Battle
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4. (C) Dr. Mohammad Herman Ritom Abdullah, Suhakam Commissioner for the state of Sarawak, told us that most of Suhakam's work in the state focuses on the rights of indigenous persons. He said no specific state ministry looks after their affairs, and state assistance is provided on an "irregular, ad hoc basis." He described a recent visit to villages of the Penan tribe near Brunei. Abdullah stated that approximately 15,000 Penan tribe members there lack electricity, water treatment and schools. He criticized the federal and state governments for not fulfilling their promises to provide access to primary education for all citizens. For many Penan children, Abdullah said the nearest school is more than two hours away by foot or boat. To provide basic services on a centralized, more efficient basis for the Penan and other indigenous peoples, the government has established several "service centers" that attempt to draw rural indigenous families from remote villages. Abdullah criticized these efforts as ineffective, saying the service centers "are not vibrant and self-supporting." He said, "All the young people end up leaving, as there are no jobs, and only elderly residents remain."


5. (C) Indigenous persons account for over half of Sarawak's
population, but they lack political power. Abdullah
explained, "There are plenty of indigenous leaders in the
state government, but they can't do anything without the
consent of the Chief Minister." He said Taib appoints
"compliant local leaders" from various tribes into
"financially rewarding" government positions as a means to
stifle potential opposition. Taib belongs to the Melanau
indigenous tribe and has been in power for the past 25 years.
Embassy sources outside the government uniformly
characterize him as highly corrupt. Abdullah said Taib has
done little to assist the state's indigenous peoples as they
attempt to establish legal ownership of their ancestral lands
and defend themselves against encroachment by logging
companies. Taib and his relatives are widely thought to
extract a percentage from most major commercial contracts -
including those for logging - awarded in the state.
Abdullah's efforts to represent the concerns of Sabah's
impoverished indigenous peoples have fallen on deaf ears. He
stated flatly, "The government doesn't listen to us or act on
our advice."

All Stick and No Carrot for Police
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6. (C) Sarawak's Deputy Police Commissioner, Kuik Alias
Harris, told us on October 2 in Kuching that the federal
government "has done little for us other than to criticize
our work." We discussed the government-sponsored police
commission report published in May 2005 that was highly
critical of police corruption, incompetence and prisoner
abuse (ref B). Waving his finger in the air and leaning
forward for emphasis, he said police leaders "are 101 percent
against (the report's) findings." National police leaders
have been highly critical, both privately and publicly, of
efforts to establish an Independent Police Complaints and
Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) that would investigate reports
of police abuse, use of deadly force during apprehension of
suspects, deaths in police custody and the generally high
level of corruption that pervades the force. While Harris
welcomed public comments by government officials that
salaries, living quarters and equipment for police must be
improved, he said little had been done thus far by the
government in these areas.


7. (C) The head of Sarawak's Special Branch, Khariri Jaafar,
added, "The country's police stations are falling apart." He
criticized the lack of funding for police facilities and
equipment, calling the situation "demoralizing." He told us
to visit the police station in Dang Wangi that handles the
center of Kuala Lumpur. He said, "I wouldn't spend one day
working there." Harris concluded, "It's hard for us to do
our jobs. The current situation is frustrating."

Comment
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8. (C) Comments from the DAP politicians and Suhakam reinforce what we have heard from other Sarawak state leaders and national politicians. By these accounts, the Sarawak state government remains highly corrupt and firmly in the hands of its chief minister. The $82 million state assembly building now under construction serves as perhaps the most obvious and extreme example of the self-enrichment of the state's chief minister and other senior government officials. Through a combination of financial and political patronage, media ownership and control, and a seemingly unfocused opposition party, no serious challenge exists to the governing coalition's longstanding grip on political power in the state. The deputy police commissioner's strong negative reaction to the police commission report mirrors comments from the national police leadership in Kuala Lumpur. Despite the prime minister's earlier publicly stated support for an independent oversight body, the police have thus far won the stand-off.

SHEAR