Kuching: I am deeply concerned by the Premier’s remarks at the Sarawak Business Federation’s anniversary dinner that “you don’t need a party to check us” and that the private sector and institutions can play that role instead.
Such narratives and sentiments being pushed by the GPS government, especially in the run-up to the State Election, are dangerous and against the interests of Sarawak as a whole.
A government that decides who may check it and on what terms is not being checked at all.
I value the role of the private sector and NGOs, and I believe they play an important part in a democratic society. But we must be clearly aware that there is a difference in their roles.
Providing feedback is not the same as demanding accountability.
When a business group or NGO raises a concern, the government should listen to that feedback, but it is not obliged to address it and may choose to ignore it.
But instead, when an elected representative raises a question in the Dewan Undangan Negeri, the government is obliged to answer it on the record before the people of Sarawak.
An elected member can also demand details of government spending, contracts, and decisions in the House, information that those outside the House often cannot obtain.
On top of that, we cannot deny the fact that many businesses depend on government licences and contracts. It is unfair to expect them to scrutinise the government without fear or favour.
The Premier also says the institutions can check the government. However, even the said institution within the State Assembly is not fully empowered and is not without any conflicts of interest. For example, the Sarawak Public Accounts Committee is chaired by a government assemblyman, and currently, there are no members of the opposition that are in the PAC or other key committees of the DUN.
The Ombudsman Unit also reports to the very government that appoints it, and again, there are no members of the opposition in it. When those tasked with scrutinising the government are drawn from the government itself, there is a clear conflict of interest that will limit their ability to carry out their role without fear or favour. On top of that, the report from the Ombudsmen Unit is not released to the public or even put out for debate in the House, even though many of the possible issues are of public interest.
The record in DUN itself has proven how backbenchers have failed to keep the government in check. Many legitimate financial concerns, including the alleged overspending on the purchase of a private jet and issues surrounding the FWTA, among others, were raised by DAP elected representatives in the State Assembly.
They were not raised by the government backbenchers, whom the Premier says are enough to keep his government in check. Without an opposition in the House, I believe these questions would never have been asked, let alone answered.
Mature democracies understand this, which is why many of them build the opposition into their institutions. In the United Kingdom, the Public Accounts Committee has been chaired by an opposition MP for well over a century, and the opposition is given its own days to set the House’s agenda. Canada’s parliamentary rules require its PAC to be chaired by the Official Opposition. India, the world’s largest democracy, has had an opposition-led PAC since the late 1960s.
Our own Federal Parliament has had an opposition PAC chairman since 2018, a reform brought by the Pakatan Harapan government. Even Singapore, so often held up as a model of good governance, has 12 opposition members in its Parliament and guarantees a minimum 10% of opposition presence in its Constitution.
If our Federal Parliament can do it, why not Sarawak?
I believe we all want to see a better and more mature Sarawak, and I believe that means a strong working relationship between a good government and a strong opposition in the same House.
A confident government has nothing to fear from scrutiny. It should welcome it and build its foundation on the spirit of transparency and accountability, especially in DUN, the highest legislative body of the land.
Dr. Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen
DAP Sarawak Publicity Secretary & Bandar Kuching MP
20 October 2026
