KUCHING – At long last, Sarawakians go to the polls tomorrow. All 82 state seats are up for grabs and will see aggressive multi-cornered fights.
The polling day will certainly witness an electoral blitzkrieg with 349 candidates seeking the people’s popular mandate from a pool of 1.25 million registered voters.
Who gets the big numbers on the returning officers’ scorecard depends largely on who had spoken a convincing narrative or had run a positive campaign.
The campaign period ends tonight at 11.59pm. The last word must already be in by this time and the war rooms must be shut one minute before midnight. There will be no second chances to reset what was earlier spoken or to add on to what was not spoken.
From midnight onwards, it will be up to the Election Commission’s (EC) 82 polling management officers and 249 assistants to manage the electoral process in Sarawak’s 12th battle for the ballots – an event that will determine who will hold the reins of the state legislative assembly for the next five years.
The people have voiced out their clear message – that they want a government that delivers good governance and development.
They are rejecting the tiring politics of hate and division. The electorate will reward performers and punish those who did not convincingly deliver on their promises before.
While the unfulfilled Malaysia Agreement glaringly stands as a sore thumb – most importantly, it is the rising tide of economic well-being and social justice “that lifts all boats”, which they want to see.
It does not matter, Iban or Bidayuh, Malay or Melanau, Kenyah or Kayan, Kelabit or Lun Bawang, ethnic Chinese or migrant Indians – that “Sarawak is for all” is a lesson every Sarawakian politician needs to heed in order to become the standard-bearer or people’s champion.
Generally, like in most polling events, the citizenry expects elections to be fought on issues that matter: infrastructure, health, education, social harmony and economic development – from where the often-repeated metaphor “putting food on the table” got its genesis.
The statistics
The Sarawak election 2021 offers its own “tale of the tape” that is characteristically anecdotal:
- Multi-cornered clashes feature in all 82 seats in the Sarawak state assembly
- The biggest clash, numbering eight candidates, will feature in the Chinese-majority hot seat of Dudong
- Candidates will meet in a straight fight in just four seats, three-way fights in 13 seats, four-cornered fights in 33 seats, five-way fights in 24 seats and six-way fights in seven seats.
- The constituencies of Bukit Sari and Bukit Kota, which were won uncontested by Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu’s Awang Tengah Ali and Abdul Rahman Ismail respectively in the 2016 state polls will witness a four-cornered clash this time around.
- The youngest candidates are Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s (PKR) Cherishe Ng and Parti Bumi Kenyalang’s (PBK) Olivia Lom Wen Sia, both aged 24.
- The oldest candidate is Parti Sarawak Bersatu’s (PSB) Wong Soon Koh who at 79 will be contesting the Bawang Assan seat.
- It has also been ascertained that more than half the candidates are aged 50 and above, with 113 candidates in the 50 to 59 age bracket, and 141 above 60 years old.
- According to the Election Commission, a total of 351 nomination papers were received on December 6, with only two rejected – one each in Jemoreng and Senadin.
- Of the 349 candidates, 82 are from Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) coalition, 73 from PBK, 70 from PSB, 28 from PKR, 26 from DAP, 15 from Parti Aspirasi Rakyat Sarawak (Aspirasi), 11 from Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak Baru, eight from Amanah, five from Parti Rakyat Sarawak, one from PAS and 30 independents.
Surprises and superlatives
On December 6, former PKR man Datuk Ali Biju, who is now with Bersatu, made a surprise visit to the Kerian nomination centre and successfully filed his papers as an independent candidate. His candidacy was despite an order by Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who had earlier said the party would not be contesting in the election out of respect for the caretaker ruling coalition GPS – Bersatu’s federal partner.
Three days later, Ali, who is Sarawak Bersatu vice-chairman, decided to withdraw from the contest. He said he has been advised by the president to withdraw in the interest of the national political cooperation framework between Perikatan Nasional and GPS.
Another potential candidate, retired Anglican Bishop Datuk Bolly Lapok who was under the media’s radar and earlier touted as a winnable candidate for PSB did not show up at any of the nomination centres.
Lapok was speculated to be a candidate for any one of the several Iban-majority seats.
When contacted by The Vibes a few days later, he said he was only an envoy for PSB. “I or the party president did not say that I would be a candidate at the polls,” he said. At that time Lapok was in the interiors of Engkili lobbying voter support for PSB candidate Johnical Rayong Ngipa.
Lapok eventually courted controversy when present Anglican Bishop Datuk Danald Jute denied Lapok’s claim published in The Vibes – that as a direct impact of his joining politics grants in the millions were given to churches. Danald in a clarification to The Vibes said these funds were already allocated via the Unit for Other Religions (Unifor) based in the chief minister’s office long before Lapok joined PSB on November 11. He described Lapok’s claim as “ludicrous”.
Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas who is the minister in charge of Unifor also refuted Lapok’s claim saying Lapok had made some “outlandish claims” purportedly to justify his joining of PSB – a local opposition party.
Of banners, billboards, manholes and Christmas tree
An election campaign banner put up by Aspirasi party president Lina Soo at the iconic White Cat Statue did not go well with the Election Commission (EC). The “offending” banner featuring maps of West Malaysia and Sarawak – and a pair of scissors cutting across the South China Sea, separating West Malaysia and the Borneo states with the one-liner “Sarawakians wake up! Enough is enough! End 58 years of suffering”. It was deemed too provocative, and the EC ordered the party to remove it, and Soo promptly complied with the order.
Soo’s Aspirasi party has always called for Sarawak’s secession from the Federation of Malaya. A tireless one-woman election machine, Soo has always been on campaign and mission mode, vocalising the need for Sarawak to leave the Federation of Malaysia.
Soo suffered another setback during her campaigning when she fell into a manhole that had no cover at Chonglin Park at Tabuan Road. It happened along the pedestrian park after she had planted her party flags late at night. She had to be helped out of the manhole by her party workers. She suffered light injuries but was back on the campaign trail the following day, bushy-tailed and full of fight.
On Monday, DAP Batu Kawah candidate Dr Kelvin Yii had one of his campaign billboards highlighting the exorbitant cost of essential goods and groceries with the words “Turunkan Harga Barang!” (Reduce prices of goods!) brought down by the authorities.
The billboard was actually chain-sawed and reduced to becoming electoral debris even before it could send its message effectively to the masses.
In response to this, an amused Yii said in a Facebook post: “Kita minta turunkan harga barang, dia turunkan billboard” (We ask them to bring down prices of essentials, but they brought down my billboard!).
According to Yii, the billboard placed in the greater Kuching enclave was brought down because the EC deemed it as an electoral offence.
Yii faced another challenge on December 9 when politics reared its ugly head over a Christmas tree put up by DAP near the Batu Kawah bridge facing the river. It was criticised by his political opponents, believed to be from the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP). Yii is contesting SUPP incumbent and party chief Dr Sim Kui Hian in a four-cornered fight tomorrow. SUPP is a component of GPS.
Yii told The Vibes: “Our Christmas tree was not only the target of criticism, but it was also vandalised as the wire connecting power to it was snapped.”
He alleged that some pro-SUPP supporters had called to take down the tree as it can be confusing to Sarawakians. However, the party ignored the callers and the tree with the party’s rocket symbol, instead of the “Star of Bethlehem” on the top was still sparkling in Yuletide fervour.
So much has happened in the 11 days of campaigning since December 6. And so much more will happen tomorrow when 1,866 polling centres involving 3,555 polling streams open at 7.30am for the hustings.
For decades, Sarawak as a state and its citizenry have experienced a lack of material wealth – where a largely working-class struggle within their own cocoons in a state of ordinariness.
The electoral juggernaut tomorrow determines who wins and who loses, and this is the freedom that democracy gives.
Sarawakians must go beyond catchy slogans and familiar rhetoric as they have the power to choose the engine and the engineer who can bring them fundamental reforms. There must be a rude awakening within themselves before they cast their votes. – The Vibes, December 17, 2021
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