PETALING JAYA: The ruling Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) is clearly trying to shield itself from first-time voters, a political analyst said in the wake of the looming elections following the lifting of the state of emergency in Sarawak.
“By preventing the AVR (automatic voter registration) and Undi18 voters, whom many expect to be more demanding of politicians, the state government is clearly trying to protect the ruling parties and its 67 assemblymen from any backlash from first-time voters,” Wong Chin Huat told FMT.
He said if the AVR is implemented by the time the election is called, it will give voters the option to decide at the eleventh hour to go to vote and possibly take it out on these incumbents.
Two days ago, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah consented to the revocation of the proclamation of emergency for Sarawak, which was promulgated on Aug 2 this year. The emergency was originally scheduled to end in February 2022.
In a statement, Istana Negara announced that the King’s consent was given in accordance with Articles 40 and 40(1A) of the Federal Constitution.
The revocation of the emergency proclamation will pave the way for the 12th Sarawak state election, as the natural tenure of the state government expired on June 6 this year.
Wong said if the state election was to be held with limitations on campaigning and the opposition not having fair access to the media, it would be more unfair for the Sarawak voters than the opposition.
“When you do not know about all the choices, you can’t make the best choice.
“Even if you have decided to choose GPS, just having alternatives gives you some bargaining power to make demands of GPS,” he added.
He called for Sarawakians to demand RTM, as the national broadcaster, offer free airtime for all candidates and to organise debates between chief minister candidates.
“They can also push the Election Commission (EC) for a longer period of time to campaign and vote.”
However, Wong highlighted that a level playing field does not necessarily mean it would work in favour of the opposition.
“If the opposition cannot even agree upon a chief minister candidate, then a debate may expose their weakness,” he said.
He also pointed out that the voters will also lose out as the EC had “done nothing to expand the absentee voting facilities.”
“This technically is disenfranchising those who cannot afford or get leave to fly home from Semenanjung or Sabah to vote,” he said.
Wong also questioned the logic in rushing for a state election with Covid-19 still a threat to the people.
“It makes better sense to have waited just a few more months for the polls to take place, especially with the emergency having already been imposed for a long time,” he said referring to the initial national emergency which was proclaimed in January.
He said the concern was not only over the high number of Covid-19 cases and deaths in Sarawak, but also for Undi18 and AVR voters to take part in the state election.
“Malacca should not be made the benchmark for Sarawak which is much larger and rural, making more human movement necessary in election campaigns,” he said.
Yesterday, the number of Covid-19 cases reported in the state was 526, behind Selangor’s 1,338 and Sabah with 655. The number of deaths reported in Sarawak was 19, the highest in the country.
The health ministry also reported 790 cases of the more contagious Delta variant being detected in Sarawak over the last seven days. This was out of the 1,047 cases nationwide.
Meanwhile, Universiti Malaya’s (UM) Awang Azman Pawi said GPS would have a bigger advantage over the opposition if the polls were held this year.
“This is due to its resources and the Bantuan Khas Sarawakku Sayang, which will give them momentum when it comes to voters.
“This will be hard to overcome by the opposition in Sarawak,” he said.
Awang also said he had no issue with the state election being held this year but only if the SOPs are tightened.
“The EC should also ensure there is still space for democracy, for the political parties to campaign and the ability for voters to interact with all candidates.”
Awang said house-to-house campaigning should be allowed like in Singapore but without the need to shake hands with the voters.
He predicted that the number of voters who would show up during polling will drop by 15% to 20% as some may still consider the pandemic a threat.
Oh Ei Sun of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs said “as GPS is likely to win anyway, so it really doesn’t matter if the election is held sooner or later.”
“After all, there are also those who argue against postponing the election further, saying it’s undemocratic,” he said.
PKR and DAP, as well as Bersih 2.0 are among those who have voiced their concern on the polls being rushed, especially over the issue of young voters being left out.
These groups have also called for fair news coverage for all candidates and political parties.
This article first appeared in Free Malaysia Today on 05 November 2021.
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