Cover image via The Malay Mail OnlineWhile BN settles down for yet another term in "safe deposit" that is Sarawak, Malaysians are still battling with the thought that the ruling government has won the election so easily
Comments have been pouring in all over the internet, with Malaysians reacting very strongly against the fact that Barisan Nasional won 72 out of the 82 seats in the state election.
The people's negative sentiments can be lead to the fact that the party has been embattled with one too many alleged financial scandals and high-level corruption cases that has managed to get the flak and attention of international justice systems like the FBI and the Swiss authorities.
**A chunk of west Malaysians have even gone so far to chide and harshly criticise Sarawakians for their democratic rights of selecting their respective leaders.**
Image via Facebook/ Raja Petra Kamarudin
A collection of screenshots filled with criticisms against Sarawak voters from the Facebook page of Raja Petra Kamarudin
Image via Facebook/ Raja Petra Kamarudin
Here's a look at some of the possible reasons on why the opposition parties lost in the recent Sarawak election:
1. Redelineation to electoral boundaries or gerrymandering by the Election Commission (EC)
Gerrymandering- the process of dividing a state into election districts to give one political party a majority in many districts
Image via The Washington Post
2. Low voter turnout- the EC reported that the overall voters turnout was at 52% by 4pm, just an hour before the polling ends
Voters lining up outside of SK Merpati Jepang voting center on Saturday, 7 May
Image via The Malay Mail Online/ Aizyl Azlee
3. A streamlined focus on penetrating rural areas
DAP has been championing issues like native rights, basic necessities like running water, electricity and better roads for villages of late.
While their efforts have made some significant changes in some villages, having brought water and electricity facilities to some rural areas in Sarawak, it wasn't sufficient to win the elections.
However, the efforts didn't completely go to waste as in Tasik Biru, DAP's Bidayuh candidate Mordi Bimiol managed to get 5,634 votes against BN Dayak component, Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party's (SPDP) candidate, Henri Jinep that won with 6,922 votes.
Despite losing the Tasik Biru seat, Sarawak DAP chief Chong Chieng Jen said that they will continue to work with the rural community and bring development to the areas that need it the most.
Delving further into the opposition's defeat, an anonymous source spoke to SAYS about the things that may have contributed to the loss:
The source divided the reasons into two different parts; urban and rural seats, explaining that the situations were very different in both areas.
Urban seats:
**4. The "Adenan" factor:**
With autonomy and the promise to fight for the rights of Sarawakians, Adenan has managed to resonate with what they feel strongly about. BN's election campaign in Sarawak was highly focused on their promises to return native rights, increase oil royalty to 20%, and promote the idea of "Sarawak for Sarawakians".
After years of facing a huge divide in terms of development, the campaign was synonymous with what Sarawakians have been asking for and that reflected in the election results.
**5. PKR-DAP clash:**
While agreeing that PKR and DAP's inability to come a mutual agreement has in some ways affected the people's perception towards the stability of the opposition coalition, the source stressed that this only played a minor role in losing the seats.
Image via Straits Times
Rural seats:
**6. [Money politics:](http://says.com/my/news/bn-allegedly-bribed-tasik-biru-voters-with-rm50-on-the-night-before-election)**
According to the source, towards the end of the campaign period at Tasik Biru, high-level politicians including Minister of Rural and Regional Development Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Pulai MP Nur Jazlan and even Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak turned up with cash handouts for the voters.
She explained that the there were instances when they said that they could not possibly vote for a different party after having taken the handouts from BN.
**7. Fear mongering:**
60 years down the road, most rural areas still have limited running water and electricity facilities. The source said that certain politicians have also allegedly threatened the locals, saying that they will no longer have water, electricity and welfare if they failed to vote for Barisan.
The people's lack of political awareness could have caused the people to believe that the government has the rights to revoke their basic rights, she said.
Image via NST
