Voters wearing protective masks queue up to cast their votes at the SK Durian Tunggal polling station during the Melaka state election on November 20, 2021. – Malay Mail photo
COMMENTARY: The absence of election campaign activities such as political gatherings, ‘ceramah’ (public talks), door-to-door visits and walkabouts by politicians, is the glaring difference between the coming 12th state polls and those in the past.
Regardless of political camps, these ‘traditional activities’ have always been one of their political tools and also main media to disseminate information and messages more effectively when it comes to canvassing for votes.
For the candidates, it is a platform to make themselves known to the voters; on the other side of the fence, it is a place for the electorate to digest the information on various issues before making their decision on which candidates to vote for.
These activities can actually help build up the election momentum and generate the mood, and many a time, especially during the political ‘ceramah’, the thrill and excitement can be electrifying.
‘It is anyone’s guess’
For the 12th state election this Dec 18, however, all these election-related activities would be banned and whether or not it is going to affect anything, it is anyone’s guess.
In this regard, political veteran Dr Gregory Hii believes ‘all is not lost’, as despite the ban, the election candidates can still make themselves known through social media and online campaigning.
Nonetheless, he admits that it would be tougher for them to reach out to the voters, and ‘win their hearts and minds’.
Dr Gregory Hii
“Face-to-face meets with the voters certainly carry more weight, but if there’s no choice, then social media campaigning would be the next resort,” he told The Borneo Post here.
Hii suggested the candidates to set up their own video projects and post them online or other virtual facilities to promote themselves.
“This is what some potential candidates for the coming election are already doing now – indeed, the candidates who can face up to the new reality and make full use of the Internet facilities would definitely have the advantage.
“This is the new normal that people have to face due to the Covid-19 pandemic, unlike in past elections where the free-for-all activities had been conducted.
“I am sure that this unprecedented election, under strict standard operating procedure (SOP), is going to enter the Book of Records as being the ‘most memorable’.”
For the incumbents, regardless of political camp, who had performed well and been going down the ground constantly, Hii reckoned that they would not need to worry too much about their chances of getting re-elected without the help of all the traditional political activities.
“If you had good track record, why worry?
“When the voters need you, you are there to serve them. That should be enough to give you the confidence of getting re-elected.
“But to those who did not perform when given the chance to do so, they might as well step down instead of continuing to bank on their luck for victory.”
Nevertheless, Hii said with the high likelihood of this election to hold many multi-cornered fights, it could be a disadvantage to the opposition parties as their standing in the polls would split the opposition votes.
Huge challenge for candidates
In his opinion, seasoned politician Dr William Ting said the ban on all political activities would deal a severe blow to the opposition parties in their bid to win in the election.
Dr William Ting
“They will not have the chance to speak to the people face-to-face, and they will not have the government election machinery to utilise upon.
“It will be a huge challenge for the candidates to reach out to the people. There is no meaning for an election like that, which is unjust and lacking democracy.”
Ting questioned that if the ban on all the conventional political-related activities was necessary to limit people’s physical contact as much as possible and thus, to curb the spread of Covid-19, then why the rush to call the election.
“They might as well postpone the election until after the situation has improved.
“In the past, all elections were filled with much fanfare – the political gatherings, ‘ceramah’, door-to-door campaigning and so on.
“I must say that this is surely going to be a quiet election.”
Ting believed that without the political gatherings, the ‘political newbies’ would certainly have less chance to win in the election than the seasoned senior politicians or the incumbents.
He argued that online campaigning might not be ‘that effective’ as many elderly voters would not have ‘the electronic gadgets’.
“Many of them also have no access to the Internet, and are virtually not aware of what is going on in the election.”
Nevertheless, he also observed that this time around, political parties would spend less on campaigning activities given that the budgeting for travelling, running public talks and preparing campaigning items had been slashed off the list.
Some major concerns
Sibu MP Oscar Ling regarded the restrictions under the state election’s SOP as ‘unfair’ to the opposition parties, in view of them not having or unable to utilise the government’s machinery to canvass for votes.
The Democratic Action Party (DAP) federal lawmaker said his main concern was the lack of Internet connectivity in Sarawak, especially across many rural areas.
Oscar Ling
“We may have to rely on the existing media platforms to campaign under the new normal, and this will be a totally different experience for the candidates and also for the electorate.”
Ling said the candidates would be utilising a ‘hybrid style of campaigning’, including via social media platforms, to reach out to the voters.
“For those who are less tech-savvy, we would have to find a way of engaging them,” he said.
The Sarawak election, which should have been called earlier following the end of the past term of the State Legislative Assembly but was postponed in view of the Declaration of Emergency due to the pandemic, will take place this month – with nomination on Dec 6, early voting on Dec 14, and polling day on Dec 18.
from Borneo Post Online https://bit.ly/3Dz6WLv
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