Sarawak heats up for much-anticipated state elections this year

 

The upcoming Sarawak elections will be an uphill battle for Opposition parties, mainly because of Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem's 'massive' popularity.

SARAWAK is in election mode. The heat is building up for its 11th state election, which is widely speculated to be held in March.

Sarawakians were already talking about going to the polls in March even before Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem hinted that the much-anticipated elections will be held in three months’ time.

A message that says that the State Legislative Assembly will be dissolved on Feb 25 and polling day will be on March 19, has gone viral on social media, leading to speculations on the polls.

As the message also mentioned that nomination day would be held on March 6, postal voting on March 13 and early voting on March 16, many who received it believed the dates were what Sarawak BN had proposed.

So the players — political parties and the slightly over one million registered voters — now wait for the dissolution of the state assembly, which expires on June 20.

The Election Commission, too, is in a state of preparedness to conduct elections in 82 state constituencies — 11 are newly created ones — allocating RM180 million for the purpose.

The last Sarawak state election held in 2011 saw the Barisan Nasional (BN) retaining two-thirds majority in the 71-seat state assembly.

On New Year’s eve celebrations and the countdown to a toll-free Sarawak at the Tun Datuk Patinggi Abang Mohammad Salahuddin bridge toll plaza, Adenan hinted about a March poll when he called on Sarawakians to give him five more years as Chief Minister.

“The government has fulfilled its promise to abolish toll in the state and I want to see the people of Sarawak fulfil their promises to the government in three months’ time,” he said.

The Adenan-led Sarawak BN is raring to face its opponents to prove it still wields the support of the overwhelming majority in the resource-rich state and, thus, will continue to rule for another term.

Adenan, whose popularity has increased since taking over the helm, also appears confident and ready to lead BN into the state polls, the first time for him.

Political observers and analysts opined that Sarawak BN would likely to be in control of the state for the next five years, though there was no guarantee of a landslide victory.

BN’s ability to keep Sarawak’s diverse peoples united, regardless of their ethnic origins, religious beliefs and other differences, had been key to it retaining support in the past, there are still issues that could land votes for Opposition parties.

Opposition parties — the DAP and PKR in particular — has over the years managed to wield some influence on the state population — which consist of 27 ethnic groups, Ibans being the majority, followed by Chinese, Malays, Bidayuh, Melanau and other smaller groups — on issues of concern and support, especially in urban areas.

But Adenan has implemented policies benefiting the people, such as lowering electricity tariffs, abolishing tolls, curbing illegal logging and amending the land code.

His stand on religious freedom and the state’s autonomy and being frown upon by BN components in West Malaysia, also resonate well with Sarawakians.

In fact, a raft of measures and policies he introduced were closer to those of the federal Opposition’s, especially the DAP, which currently hold the most number of Opposition seats in Sarawak. DAP won 12 seats and its ally Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) has three.

Adenan had taken a common stand, among others on the “Allah” issue, recognition of the United Examinations Certificate, placing English on par with the national language, and on raising the state’s oil royalty from five to 20%.

Sarawak PKR leader Baru Bian recently admitted in his closing speech during PKR’s 11th national congress in Selangor that the upcoming Sarawak elections  will be an uphill battle for Opposition parties, mainly because of Adenan’s “massive” popularity.

“The reports we received say that 75% of Sarawakians support him,” he was reported saying.

As stated by Local Government and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh, since assuming leadership of the state about two years ago, Adenan has introduced at least 50 new policies and some part of them have been implemented for the benefit of the people.

These policies have also been a selling point for support for Sarawak BN to outstation voters working or studying in West Malaysia, who are more exposed to Opposition politics and information as compared to those back home.

The coalition has made use of the “Lan Berambeh Anak Sarawak” gathering, the last one held at the Putra World Trade Centre in October, to explain what has been done and planned for Sarawak, in the hope that the voters will return to vote for BN for continuity.

The state government has also tabled an election-driven budget for 2016 to the tune of RM8.04 billion. The budget includes a RM5.97 billion for development which will be utilized for roads construction, providing supply of treated water and for the agriculture sector. Rural development received a higher allocation amounting to RM2.65 billion, a 13% increase from 2015.

Across the divide, Pakatan Harapan is fighting for seats to contest and is scheduled to discuss seats allocations this month. Despite its infancy, Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) has also voiced its interest to join the the fray, eyeing the Muslim majority and racially mixed seats.

Insiders say Amanah is likely to be allocated some of the seats contested by PAS in the last state polls. PAS, which has gone solo after Pakatan Rakyat fell apart, only contested five seats, mostly in rural coastal areas of conservative Malays, but failed to win any.

DAP lost only three of 15 seats allocated to the party, mostly in Chinese majority constituency, while PKR, which got to contest the most number of seats — 49, only managed to win three. The latter’s failure has pushed DAP to contest more seats, especially in racially-mixed constituencies formerly contested by PKR, in the upcoming elections.

The DAP is expected to engage in a more aggressive campaign soon; the party’s mascot “ubah”, which was first introduced in the last Sarawak polls, has arrived for the campaign which aims to deny the BN two-thirds majority.

Its no easy feat, given the fact that Sarawak BN has strongholds in many areas.

PAS had already announced it would be contesting in at least 11 state constituencies in the coming state election. Should it win and enter the state assembly, it will create history in Sarawak, where Muslims only account for less than 28% of its population.

The party first entered Sarawak in 1996 and has been contesting elections since 2001. It has failed to win any seat at parliamentary or state level, largely because of its image as an extremist party.

PAS is also seen to be an ally of Umno, the party Sarawakians do not want to see setting foot on their land.

On this score, Amanah, being a splinter of PAS,  is unlikely to be accepted by the people in Sarawak, despite its leaders being the more liberal  former PAS leaders and the party being a component of the newly formed Pakatan Harapan.

From now until polling day,the political climate in this Borneo state will be colourful.

The Rakyat Post

6 Jan 2016