KUCHING: Sarawak is expected to keep its important status as a kingmaker in the 14th General Election (GE14).
The state has been able to deliver handsome victories for Barisan Nasional (BN) in previous elections. It has the largest number of parliamentary seats at 31, of which 81 per cent, or 25 seats, were won by BN in GE13.
The remaining five seats are held by DAP and one by PKR.
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) Deputy Vice-Chancellor (student affairs and alumni) Professor Mohd Fadzil Abdul Rahman said there was a strong support for BN in rural areas, particularly those along the state’s coastline.
“Around 36 per cent of Sarawak’s population live in coastal areas, which is an advantage as their number will be translated into votes.
“The strong support from the rural community is due to the state government’s focus on development.
“Much progress has been achieved due to the ruling coalition’s initiatives, for instance, the development of facilities and infrastructure, and the formulation of policies that take care of the wellbeing of communities.”
Fadzil said Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), which holds 14 out of 25 BN parliamentary seats in the state, would continue to enjoy strong support from the people and retain all the seats it won in GE13.
Apart from that, he said the Federal Government’s priority in rural development, as seen in the Pan-Borneo Highway project, had contributed towards making BN a dominant coalition in the state.
Fadzil said the main challenge for BN Sarawak would be courting votes in the urban and suburban areas, where most of the constituencies were held by DAP.
“Everyone is aware that Chinese-majority seats would present a great challenge. But we want to see the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) wrest back the seats and provide a stronger Chinese representation in the BN-led government.”
The “Chinese Tsunami”, seen since GE11, was not solely due to Chinese voters turning away from BN, but also because issues in the urban and suburban areas were different from those in the interior and coastal villages.
“Since then (GE11), support from the Chinese community has swung away and the situation became worse in following elections. BN should learn from this,” said Fadzil.
Commenting on Sarawak’s young voters, he said they had been very much influenced by social media.
Thus, social media had become a powerful tool in campaigning and information sharing.
UiTM Sarawak Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies senior lecturer Dr Nadrawina Isnin said Sarawak BN could wrest back the urban seats from the opposition if SUPP and its splinter, the United People’s Party (UPP), cooperated with each other.
Once the dispute between the two parties was resolved and a mutual understanding was reached, SUPP could deliver more seats, especially in Chinese-majority areas, she said.
“The late Tan Sri Adenan Satem was the main factor that contributed to the landslide victory in the state election two years ago.”
The former chief minister addressed issues close to the heart of the Chinese community, allocating funds for Chinese secondary schools and recognising the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC).
Adenan’s policies and approaches also won the support of the business community and his bold statement that “orang Cina bukan pendatang” had touched their hearts.
However, GE14 would be a different scenario. Thus, SUPP and UPP must resolve their dispute and focus on a common goal.
“It’s important for the two parties to cooperate to gain the trust and confidence of the people,” said Nadrawina.
She said BN could no longer rely on the support of elderly voters aged 60 and above.
Based on statistics, as of the third quarter of last year, their percentage was small — 13.7 per cent for those aged between 60 and 69, 6.4 per cent for those aged between 70 and 79, 2.2 per cent for those aged 80 to 89, and 0.7 per cent for those above 90 years old.
Therefore, Nadrawina said young and first-time voters, aged between 21 and 39, would have a bigger impact on the overall results.
“We cannot assume that they know nothing about politics as information and news spread fast nowadays through social media like WhatsApp, Twitter and other platforms.
“Thus, they will possibly judge a candidate based on what they learn through social media.”
Of the 31 parliamentary seats in Sarawak, the majority are located in rural areas, which are the stronghold of BN.
Development and progress were taking place in major towns and cities, namely Kuching, Sibu, and Miri, so there was a need to ensure that rural development was intensified, too.
Nadrawina hoped that all candidates would be mature and run their campaigns in a peaceful and respectful manner.
“There’s no need to fight or get into heated arguments every time there’s an election, especially during the campaign period.
“Instead, each party or candidate should talk about facts and figures, and not throw wild allegations at each other.
“Be it BN or the opposition, they should talk about what they have done or achieved in their areas.
“I think the people would want to know more on this so that they can vote in the right person.”