THREE days before polling, I wrote an article that Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) leaders have already declared victory over the rural frontiers of Sarawak.
On the eve of polling, in the late afternoon hours, veterans of opposition parties PKR, DAP, and Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) told me they were still hopeful as there were signs that they could make crucial inroads into numerous constituencies.
However, in the late evening hours that same day, I received footage showing celebrations in longhouses adorned with big GPS banners.
People were seen dancing and singing, with crates of beer to share.
There was also a video allegedly showing a politician telling longhouse folk to collect cash handouts after casting their votes.
Later that night – a few hours before campaigning ended – an audio recording made its rounds, of someone saying there were “angpows and cakes” to be collected at a certain place in Miri city.
And now, the results of the polling yesterday are already history, as the saying goes.
Very early this morning, Dayak National Congress president Paul Raja had sent me a long message, saying he was shell-shocked.
Paul, who is also a lawyer and native land rights activist, noted that the scope of the GPS victory is shocking.
“It’s mind-boggling, to say the least, how the voters rejected PH (Pakatan Harapan) – what with the many issues against the ruling GPS.
“PH banged hard on Sarawak issues like corruption, cronyism, nepotism, land controversies, and injustice against the poor and marginalised...and yet, the voters rejected many of these PH candidates.
“PH and PSB were fighting each other, their quarrels very open for all to see. Are they to be blamed for their own downfall?”
Paul said there are widespread claims that Dayak voters had taken money in exchange for their votes.
“I hope this is not true, but (when it’s) all said and done, the votes have been cast and GPS is the runaway winner,” he said. “What will happen to Sarawak now?”
Indeed, his words are packed with volumes of concern. The general mood of the ordinary rakyat, too, is one of worry.
The worry among political neutrals like me in Sarawak is that, with the opposition so weakened, the ruling politicians and their powerful cronies would be running amok in this state.
Will they go back to those days when policies in place resulted in the plundering of resources, so much so that a handful of multibillionaires had ruled the state with politicians – both mutually benefiting each other to monopolise everything in sight?
The results of the 12th state election are a double-edged sword, a very sharp one. Sarawakians are heading into a misty future.
I hope GPS, which retained its hold on the state government, will truly fulfil the many election promises that it has made.
It must give priority to the agendas of helping to uplift the lives of the poor in rural and urban settings; those without houses of their own; those feeling the impact of job losses, those struggling due to the Covid-19 pandemic; those urban poor and low income earners hard-hit by the rising cost of living...the list goes on.
I hope the opposition will take a hard look at their defeat, revitalise themselves, and play a more effective role in serving the rakyat.
The ordinary rakyat in Sarawak – like myself – can only gaze upon the looming uncertainties in the weeks and months ahead, wondering if the sombre results of the 12th Sarawak election would be for the better or for the worse. – The Vibes, December 19, 2021
