Moderation of Sarawak Regionalism in Malaysia's 15th General Election

Abstract

Compared to Sarawak state elections, in the 2022 general election (GE15) the incumbent Sarawak Parties Alliance (Gabungan Parti Sarawak, GPS) and Sarawak-based opposition parties' campaigns demonstrated a tendency toward a moderate rather than radical autonomy discourse. In GE15, these candidates attempted to reconcile their regionalism with nationalism to stay relevant in the national political landscape. Meanwhile, opposition parties performed better in certain Chinese- and Dayak-majority seats, exposing the limits of the Sarawak autonomy discourse. To explain these patterns, this article locates Sarawak against the backdrop of a centralized Malaysian federal government to clarify the salience of both structural and cultural factors in shaping autonomy claims. It shows the importance of inclusive and democratic institutions, like a general election, in integrating peripheral communities and checking radical regionalism. Further, preceding the general election, the readiness of the federal government to delegate power to the state government effectively secured the state ruling elite's commitment to remain in the national government. However, institutional decentralization is insufficient to calm autonomy claims, as cultural pluralism increasingly underpins Sarawak regionalism. Sarawak's autonomy discourse will not fade away and could radicalize again if the central government holds to exclusive ethnoreligious nationalism.