IT HAS been a week of explosive verbal sparring among the contesting parties during the Sarawak election campaign, with interesting accusations of cronyism, nepotism, corrupt deals, loads of free beer, and instant handouts to religious organisations.
With less than one week to go before polling day next Saturday, more drama looms on the horizon for Sarawak. We can expect the coming week to be more explosive – verbally, of course.
The candidates are going for the kill – metaphorically. There were plenty of juicy accusations and subsequent denials over the past week.
Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) was in the spotlight, with former deputy chief minister Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas being accused by the opposition of having a hand in dishing out government contracts for huge projects to certain contractors he knew.
Uggah, who is Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) deputy president, publicly refuted those accusations, of course. And it was just on Monday.
Yesterday, he again issued another statement refuting yet another accusation that he had personally obtained lucrative kickbacks stemming from big infrastructure projects in Sarawak.
Today, Uggah again had to go public to refute allegations by a retired bishop of the Sarawak Anglican Church that churches, mission schools and church organisations in the state were handed big sums after the person joined an opposition party.
Aside from these accusations, the state Land and Survey Department found itself being accused by longhouse folk of offering free beer to the Ibans who had sought land titles as part of their native customary rights.
The Ibans in Bintulu made the claims after 358 Malays, Melanaus and Muslim-convert families received land titles from the department.
The department instantly issued a statement to shoot down the allegations that their officers gave free beer to the frustrated Iban land applicants.
Meanwhile, Progressive Democratic Party president Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing, the GPS candidate for Dudong seat, found himself having to publicly deny allegations that he is giving RM500 cash to every individual voter plus RM1,000 to each longhouse unit.
Tiong refuted the claims and accused the opposition of trying to smear his image.
Money issues have been a mainstay in every one of the five state elections and five parliamentary elections I have covered in Sarawak so far.
Money is part of the political culture in Sarawak, there is no denying in that. To say otherwise would be lies.
The question is whether the use of money can dictate the results of a public election.
If using money truly lures voters to cast their ballots in favour of the giver, then that is corruption at work.
I have heard of how certain powerful people will bring luggages filled with cash to longhouses the night before polling day. They will open the bags and put on display the bundles of notes for the chiefs and residents to see.
As an “appetiser”, each voter whose name is on the electoral roll will get a piece of the action.
Then they are told if the “correct” candidate wins, the rest of the money will be distributed equally among the longhouse residents.
In my 25 years as a reporter, I can tell you that money, in cash or cheque, is a very powerful political tool, especially in rural areas where people are still poor and dependent on handouts, “allocations” and “grants” to survive.
This time, will we see the same effect money has? Only the voters can decide. – The Vibes, December 12, 2021
Stephen Then is a reporter with The Vibes based in Sarawak
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