Sarawak - A troubled election.....

The election campaign for the 10th Sarawak state election has been kicked off and this time, the BN no longer wins any seats without fighting. Several phenomena in the chaotic battle are worth noting.

After the nomination is made, the most crucial question is, who will be the successor of Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud? Taib have expressed his wish to retire during the announcement of the state assembly dissolution and if he wins, he might be the Chief Minister only for half of the term.

However, who will be the successor among the 34 candidates of the PBB? The Ba'Kelalan candidate remained a mystery when the BN announced its candidate list before the nomination day and therefore, it was rumoured that the mysterious candidate, believed to be Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala, was Taib's successor.

I had a dinner with Idris and he made it very clear that he did not want to get involved in politics. I believed that he would not involve himself in the battle since it was not his intention and he has had a very enjoyable life.

It is a battle between two lawyers in Ba'Kelalan. SPDP Ba'Kelalan Youth Chief Willie Liau is the BN candidate and if it is true that the candidate is the successor of Taib, why is he from the SPDP instead of the PBB? It is a matter of course just like Menteri Besar are usually Umno leaders.Therefore, the mysterious candidate for Ba'Kelalan was a layout and the question of who will be Taib's successor remains a puzzle.

All leaders will step down someday, including former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and former MIC President Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu. All leaders should leave when the time comes.

The second phenomenon worth noting is, it has been proven that elections in Sabah and Sarawak usually have more independent candidates. In the peninsula, elections are battles among parties and coalitions. Independent candidates usually have little opportunity to win.

In Sarawak, it is common for an independent candidate to win, such as three independent candidates had won in the 1979 state election. Most independent candidates will not maintain their neutral status after they win the elections. Instead, they join the BN. Therefore, it is actually a kind of business in politics to contest as independent candidates.

Another noteworthy issue is, whether Sarawak Orang Asli would change their mentality and accept non-native political parties. The DAP started to contest in Sarawak state election since 1978 and it had suffered defeat for continuous four terms. It was able to make a breakthrough only in 1996 by sending three candidates into the state assembly. The PKR was able to win only one seat in a Chinese constituency in the previous state election..

Political parties from the peninsula might defeat local political parties only after the regional politics mentality of Orang Asli is eliminated. It is not impossible to change the mentality of voters in Sabah and Sarawak. When Umno contested in the 1990 Sabah state election, it had successfully overthrown the PBS state government. Umno might enter Sabah after Taib's retirement.

I have a feeling that the upcoming Sarawak state election is not going to be a peaceful one. The Pakatan Rakyat will definitely have a strategy to counter the BN's strategy of development. Meanwhile, Umno would not only sit still and observe. Eventually, the situation will just be the same as by-elections held in the peninsula.

Let's wait and see whether there would be any explosive issues in the Sarawak state election! - Lim Sue Goan Translated by Soong Phui Jee

source :sin chew daily

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cheers.