Unfair to blame PKR for Sarawak losses
By Zehfry Dahalan, Free Malaysia Today
Commentators who blame PKR for the opposition’s poor performance in the recent Sarawak election are either spinning the facts or being too lazy to examine the figures.
Many have said the opposition would have won more seats if PKR had given way to SNAP in the rural contests and thus prevent three-corner fights. The fact is that in all contests where both parties were in the fray, Barisan Nasional won far more votes than those garnered by SNAP and independent candidates combined.
Commentators have also failed to note the significant fact that more than half of the constituencies where PKR contested had Iban, Orang Ulu (Dayak) or Bidayuh majorities and were in deeply remote areas that lack sources of information. It is not easy to change the mindset of these voters.
But PKR had to contest in these remote areas so that Pakatan Rakyat would not be accused of giving BN a walkover. If PKR did not go for these seats, which other Pakatan party would? DAP’s specialty are urban seats and PAS wanted to focus on semi-urban seats with Malay/Melanau majorities.
T o say that PKR lost badly because of its greed for seats is to ignore the demographic factors.
Of the 49 constituencies where PKR contested, 26 are either Iban, Orang Ulu or Bidayuh majority seats.
The details are as follows: Opar (82.9% Bidayuh), Tasik Biru (74.6% Bidayuh), Bengoh (66.2% Bidayuh), Tarat (65.7% Bidayuh), Tebedu (91% Bidayuh), Kedup (75.3% Bidayuh), Balai Ringin (89.1% Iban), Bukit Begunan (87.2% Iban), Engkilili (85.7% Iban), Batang Ai (93.8% Iban), Layar (73.4% Iban), Bukit Saban (69.8% Iban), Krian (96.2% Iban), Meluan (96.2% Iban), Ngemah (93% Iban), Machan (78.6% Iban), Tamin (87.4% Iban), Kakus (77.9% Iban), Katibas (91.3% Iban), Baleh (99% Iban), Belaga (89.8% Orang Ulu), Kemena (92% Iban), Marudi (61.9% Iban), Telang Usan (76% Orang Ulu), Batu Danau (68.1% Orang Ulu) and Ba’kelalan (89.7% Orang Ulu).
SNAP also contested for these seats. The highest number of votes it received—928—was in Bengoh. PKR beat it everywhere.
Independents did better
In some of the contests, SNAP did poorer than even the independent candidates.
In Bengoh, for example, independent Wejok Tomik got 1,007 votes. In Engkili, independent Jimmy Simon Maja received 414 votes against the 393 garnered by SNAP candidate Semijie Janting.
If any party is to be blamed for splitting the opposition votes, it should be SNAP. If it had only gone for fewer seats, its PKR rivals might have recorded votes in the four figures, like most of the other PKR candidates.
The only real splitting of opposition votes happened in Ngemah, where PCM got 1,366 votes, PKR 650, SNAP 577 and an independent candidate 278. These total up to more than the 2,361 votes for BN.
