A view of the Sarawak State Assembly building taken from the air. – Bernama file photo
KUCHING (Dec 18): Today, a total of 1,213,769 registered voters are expected to carry out their civic responsibility in the 12th Sarawak Election – one of Sarawak’s most significant polls as it is the first following the collapse of Barisan Nasional (BN) in the state.
A total of 349 candidates are in the race for the 82 seats in the Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN), giving the state its largest number of contenders in an election.
Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) is vying for all the constituencies with 47 candidates from Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), 18 from Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), 11 from Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and six from Progressive Democratic Party (PDP).
GPS was formed after Pakatan Harapan ended the five-decade rule of Barisan Nasional in the 2018 general elections.
Many new or rebranded opposition parties, most of which are local parties, are participating in this election.
Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) is one of the new opposition parties with the most candidates at 73 followed by Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) which is vying for 70 seats; Sarawak People’s Aspiration Party (Aspirasi) 15 seats; Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak Baru (PBDSB) 11 seats; and Parti Sedar Rakyat Sarawak (Sedar) five seats.
Pakatan Harapan is vying for 62 seats this election with Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) in 28, Democratic Action Party (DAP) in 26 and Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) in eight.
Perikatan Nasional (PN) is also making its presence felt this election with Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) contesting in one seat, Beting Maro.
Apart from them, there are also 30 independent candidates joining the fray.
The Meteorological Department has forecast isolated rain in most districts this afternoon and tonight across Sarawak, but the sun is expected to be out in the morning.
Voters have been encouraged to cast their votes at recommended times, but they can still do so between 7.30am and 5pm or during time that has been stated at their respective polling stations.
They are advised to always comply with all laws, regulations and special guidelines on Covid-19 prevention as well as against going out to vote at the eleventh hour.
A total of 1,866 polling stations and 3,555 polling channels are operating throughout Sarawak, with 155 Election Commission (EC) monitoring teams and 46,565 EC personnel involved.
The electoral roll used for this election was updated as of Nov 2 this year.
Voters are also advised to keep their identity cards safe and not to hand them over to other parties except election officials at their respective polling stations.
For the uninitiated, here’s the voting process briefly:
• Upon arriving at a polling station and after a voter’s identity is verified by election workers, each voter will receive a ballot paper.
• Voters then head to a booth to mark the ballot paper confidentially.
• Voters are to mark on each ballot the candidate of their choice with a cross next to the candidate’s name and party symbol.
• After that, voters fold the ballot and drop it into the ballot box.
• Remember your vote is secret and must be treated as such.
• The majority of polling stations will close at 5pm, after which the votes will be counted by hand.
• After a count at the polling centre, the ballot boxes are transported to the tallying centre for a second count. If all candidates agree to the count, then it stands; otherwise an immediate re-count will be done.
• Election results will usually be announced on the night of the polling day.
The 12th state election has been a long time coming for Sarawakians. The term of the 11th Sarawak Legislative Assembly was supposed to have expired on June 6 this year and the polls should have been held in August but a pandemic happened.
The country was placed under a national Emergency proclamation on January 12 to August 1 this year to give the government more powers to bring Covid-19 under control. Under the emergency, no elections were to be held and Sarawak DUN’s term was extended.
The term would have automatically expired when the national Emergency was lifted on August 1 but Covid-19 cases was still soaring and the Yang di-Pertuan Agong was compelled to put Sarawak under another Emergency to delay the polls further until next year.
The Emergency proclamation on the state was to end on Feb 2, 2022 but acting on the advice of the state’s leaders and the relevant authorities, the king agreed to lift the emergency on Nov 3, which brings us to where we are today.
Many pundits believe that GPS will triumph today, and what remains to be seen is if it could pull off a clean sweep of all 82 seats.
However, over the last 12 days of campaigning, the coalition’s opponents, particularly PSB, have shown that they are no pushovers.
The campaign in this election has been quite unlike any other due to the standard operating procedure (SOP) to check Covid-19. Ceramah or face-to-face campaigns were restricted, and candidates were encouraged to use the electronic media.
Be that as it may, the gravity of this election is not lost on voters as they will decide who governs Sarawak in the crucial next five years when it is hoped that the state will rebound after being hard hit by the pandemic.
There is concern that the voter turnout could be low today due to Covid-19 fears and weather conditions but Sarawakians have shown that they are fiercely protective of their state and they will not let this day slip by without standing up and being counted.
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