In absolute terms, DAP did best, having increased their number of state assemblymen from 6 to 12, PKR increased theirs from 1 to 3, while PAS failed to make any inroad in Sarawak.
Notable defeats included Dr. George Chan, and Dominique Ng who left DAP to join PKR and turned independent when as incumbent state assemblyman he was sidelined by party leaders for this election. He even lost his deposit! So this must be a grim reminder to those who stood in the last general elections and got themselves elected under PR banners and had since joined BN.
Most people (except BN leaders and supporters) cannot deny that BN's victory was neither honourable nor fair. How could we feel otherwise when Mafrel and Bersih were not recognized and not allowed entry into Sarawak? Nazri had already admitted our Election Commission is biased because their commissioners are appointed by BN and they are not from heaven? PM and DPM left their duties as federal leaders to campaign shamelessly dishing out development funds and cash with the expected acquiescence of EC. While BN had the full support of government machinery and development funds to dish out and slush funds to use, the opposition's performance can be considered as credible and commendable. Again, we must not believe Nazri when he said there was democracy because we have elections every 4 or 5 years, and that elections were fair because opposition won and especially when they improved on their performance. Among other complaints, the reluctance to issue Form 14 by EC officials was a sure sign of possible rigging.
Rampant Vote-buying: It seems, at the long houses, a sum of money was left in each of them, depending on the number of occupants. They were told 'more where that came from' or something to that effect, after the results, provided BN candidates were elected! How could they refuse such windfalls which come only once every 4 or 5 years, and to vote otherwise would mean no such immediate enjoyment of money? BN will continue to rule so long as they are able to make money from mega projects which they could use to buy votes with impunity and the people continue to accept such money instead of changing the system.
The overall results of the Sarawak state election: BN 55, PR 15 and Independent 1. BN's list comprises PBB 35, PRS 8, SPDP 6, SUPP 6; PR's comprises DAP 12 and PKR 3; with one lone Independent. PBB on its own is one short of a simple majority and BN on the whole achieves more than the required 48 seats necessary for two-third majority in the Sarawak state assembly.
The Sun has done an excellent job in showing the results in graphic form:
DAP was more focused. PKR - bising-bising a lot; created a lot of poor impressions.
ReplyDeleteDAP was more focused. PKR - bising-bising a lot; created a lot of poor impressions.
ReplyDeleteBN also focused on PKR in their attack because a strong PKR makes them more vulnerable in terms of Malay and native support. Gerrymandering created large electorates with Chinese majority so only limited seats could be won by DAP at the expense of SUPP. PBB seems to have won seats disproportionate to their population.
ReplyDeleteIt is difficult to fight with unlimited money being distributed with impunity, with shameless Najib taking the lead.