Sarawak polls a pointer to BN’s future
By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani, The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 — A failure to retain a two-thirds majority in Sarawak could lead the Barisan Nasional (BN) losing more federal seats in the 13th general election but will not be enough to dislodge it from power, claims political analyst Dr Ong Kian Ming.
The UCSI University academician stressed that Sarawak will be the catalyst for Pakatan Rakyat (PR) to capture Putrajaya although the fledgling coalition must work hard to retain voter confidence after a spate of defections and squabbles.
“When BN fails to retain its two-thirds majority in Sarawak, that will be the starting point that will reveal the cracks and weaknesses in BN and Umno, especially when the state is no longer a safe deposit.
“This will pressure Sarawak to change and cause instability within BN. Najib will lose the two-thirds majority in the next general election and Pakatan Rakyat will get a net gain of 18 seats,” he told The Malaysian Insider after presenting his findings at a forum this week.
According to Ong’s study, BN will also fail to capture Selangor and Perak while PR will make significant gains in Terengganu, Johor and Sabah.
Ong believes that PR will able to wrest Stampin, Sarikei, Lanang, Miri and Sri Aman in Sarawak.
While PR should win Kulim in Kedah, Kuala Nerus and Dungun in Terengganu, Lumut and Kampar in Perak together with Segamat, Kluang, Gelang Patah in Johor.
The infighting between Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal and Datuk Seri Anifah Aman in Sabah Umno will also cause BN to lose Sandakan and Tawau, Ong said.
