Abstract
Tan Sri Adenan Satem and the Sarawak BN won 72 of 82 seats in the Sarawak state elections last Saturday. The “Dayak Tsunami” and “Miracle of May 7” the DAP had predicted never materialised. DAP’s ‘Impian Sarawak’ project had no impact on rural Dayak voters. PKR performed poorly as well with many of its candidates losing their electoral deposits. All the candidates who stood on the Sarawak independence platform lost their electoral deposits as well. Instead, the BN won several Chinese constituencies held by the DAP. All the key political issues, such as the GST and 1MDB, seemingly were non-issues with the Sarawak polity.
Will the federal BN under Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak use the Sarawak momentum to call for a general election? Did the Sarawak Chinese really turn against the DAP? Can the Sarawak elections be used as a political barometer for the rest of the nation? James Chin, who was in Sarawak observing the electoral process, will share with us his observations.
Prof James Chin is the Director of the Asia Institute, University of Tasmania and Senior Fellow, Jeffrey Cheah Institute on Southeast Asia. He is a leading scholar of East Malaysian politics and an authority on elections in Southeast Asia.
