After the by-election
DAP’s victory in the by-election has improved its status in PR as when PR is gradually defeating, it has won the Sibu parliamentary seat and at the same time, it has become the largest component party of PR with 29 parliamentary seats.
By LIM SUE GOAN/ Translated by SOONG PHUI JEE/ Sin Chew Daily
Pakatan Rakyat (PR) was really annoyed recently. It suffered a defeat in the Hulu Selangor by-election while some of its members withdrew or switched parties, and a PKR Member of Parliament (MP) even revealed corruption in the Selangor-owned Kumpulan Semesta Sdn Bhd (KSSB). Barisan Nasional (BN) had been ridiculing it but the victory in the Sibu by-election this time has greatly boosted its morale.
The victory in the Sibu by-election has an enormous political significance to PR. It shows that PR is still influential and it is not that easy for BN to retrieve the two-thirds majority.
Wong Ho Leng received 2942 more votes compared to the 8 March general elections while the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) received only 691 less votes. DAP was able to win because the turnout rate has increased by 3%. As 70% Chinese voters gave their support to DAP, the party was able to gain its first victory in Sarawak.
There are national and local factors for BN’s defeat:
- Chinese voters hope to consolidate the two-party system: As BN is proceeding forward, PR’s parliamentary seats have been reduced to 77. The withdrawal of Wangsa Maju MP Wee Choo Keong from PKR before the polling started has caused BN a step closer to the two-thirds majority.
It is believed that some voters voted for PR as they wanted to maintain checks and balances. Interests of the minority will, after all, be better protected under a two-party system.
- Local factors: Even though Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had visited Sibu for three times, the “1Malaysia” concept takes time to bring effects and thus, it is unable to offset the impact of local factors.
Sibu has been lack of development in recent years and the flooding problem has not yet been resolved. These are issues concerned by voters.
- DAP’s election strategy is effective: After learning a lesson from the Hulu Selangor by-election, DAP started its election mechanism earlier this time. Under the leadership of party adviser Lim Kit Siang, leaders of all levels were fully mobilised to fight for votes during the election campaign. And their efforts bore fruits.
DAP has become an election expert after experiencing a lot of election battles over all these years, particularly the battle in Tanjung, Penang. DAP’s motto of “Sibu for change” has won the hearts of the voters.
In contrast, SUPP’s campaign strategy has failed to keep up the pace of voters. Chinese voters have been immune to the Islamic state issue. It is useless to play up the Islamic state issue now.
DAP’s victory in the by-election has improved its status in PR as when PR is gradually defeating, it has won the Sibu parliamentary seat and at the same time, it has become the largest component party of PR with 29 parliamentary seats.
The victory in Sibu has also strengthened the cooperation of PR’s component parties in Sarawak. It can help them to resolve the conflicts earlier.
However, PR should not conclude based on only a by-election that the 8 March political tsunami has reached Sabah and Sarawak, giving it an opportunity to seize the Sarawak state power, as Sibu is a Chinese constituency but Iban and Melanau voters are still supporting BN.
If PR is unable to spread its message of change to inland areas, BN will still be able to hold tight the state power of Sarawak.
BN won the Hulu Selangor by-election but lost the Sibu by-election. It shows that the BN government still needs to step up the efforts to reform. Particularly, it needs to focus on the implementation of the New economic Model (NEM) and 10th Malaysia Plan to avoid too many of political disputes.
Politics is a long journey and we should not make a conclusion based on only a by-election. Both BN and PR still need to work harder.
