No candidate can take things for granted
Two issues will dominate the hottest election campaign in Sarawak’s history and they are no less than the Chief Minister himself as well as the emotive issue of NCR land.
TAN Sri Taib Mahmud made a pre-election trip back to his Balingian seat on Monday with his young wife by his side.
It was the second time Puan Sri Ragad Kurdi Taib had visited Balingian. She had caused quite a stir when Taib took her to the rural stretches of Balingian earlier this year.
This time, they were in the more urban part of the constituency but the reaction to the beautiful Ragad was no different. Everybody wanted to have a look at her and shake her hand.
She does not say much but she smiles a lot, does not mind people asking to pose for photographs with her and as, one journalist covering the event noted, “she likes to drink Coca Cola like us”.
The Chief Minister does not really need to campaign in Balingian. The independent candidate who stood against him in 2006 secured only 667 votes against Taib’s 6,393 votes.
About 70% of the voters in Balingian are Melanau, the community he belongs to but this is one election where no politician can take things for granted and he made three stops in Balingian where he spoke mostly in the Melanau dialect.
The stage is set for the hottest election that Sarawak has ever seen and it has nothing to do with the weather but everything to do with politics.
The campaign for the polls which begins today is likely to see every one of the 71 seats being fought over. Multi-cornered fights are expected in a number of constituencies.
The opposition parties have admitted that they have zero chance of winning power or even of breaking Barisan Nasional’s two-thirds majority but their aim is to keep Barisan on their toes in every seat.
They are sending a clear signal that they are a force to be reckoned with.
All sorts of issues will be raised in the course of the next 10 days of campaigning but two particular topics will dominate.
The first has to do with Taib and the controversies surrounding his family, and their wealth and businesses. After 30 years in power, Taib carries more than his share of baggage.
Allegations of corruption and the misuse of Sarawak’s resources, which used to be talked about behind closed doors, is about to take centrestage at opposition ceramah especially in the urban centres.
The second has to do with issues surrounding native customary rights (NCR) land, an emotive issue that resonates among all Sarawakians, especially the Dayaks in the rural areas.
These are very Sarawak-based issues, quite removed from the national type issues that dominate elections in the peninsula.
Chinese schools, the perennial floods in Sibu, infrastructure and amenities and even the Bible controversy will be played up but they will not carry the sort of weight as the two most controversial issues.
The polls are critical for Taib and SUPP, the second biggest party in the state Barisan.
Taib, who has said he is retiring after the polls, needs a credible victory to be in control of his exit.
Ironically, the controversies surrounding him and his family will have only a marginal effect on his own party PBB.
The backlash is on SUPP which has to face the cynical and angry Chinese voters. SUPP’s political survival is on the line. It will be in serious trouble if it loses more ground to DAP.
The Chinese feelings, which have been fermenting for some time, are about to come to a boil.
Yesterday was a rather quiet day as candidates and their supporters made their way to their respective constituencies to prepare to file their nomination papers this morning.
The opposition big guns from the peninsula had flown into town.
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng was holding court at a DAP ceramah in Kuching. His party is about to strike it big in Sarawak.
PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was in Lawas, a cowboy town where PKR star Baru Bian will be filing his nomination papers for the Ba’Kelalan seat.
Sarawak has come a long way in the last 30 years but the ground is starting to shift.
DAP has been playing its theme song “Gai Bian” or “Change” at every party event. The coming days may not bring the sort of change that DAP has been singing about but this election will be like no other in this unique state.
ANALYSIS
By JOCELINE TAN
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