A policeman watches from behind as Election Commission workers transport yellow bags containing election kits from Bau Civic Centre yesterday to the polling centre in Mas Gading constituency, ahead of polling day today. – Photo by Chimon Upon
KUCHING (Nov 19): Decision time has arrived for Malaysia with 21 million voters eligible to cast their votes for the next government after 14 days of intense campaigning.
A total 222 parliamentary seats will be up for grabs by six major blocs namely Barisan Nasional (BN), Perikatan Nasional (PN), Pakatan Harapan (PH), Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA), Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) as well as several individual parties and independent candidates.
In Sarawak, 1,943,074 voters in 31 parliamentary constituencies will head to 1,943 polling stations which will open from 7.30am until 5.30pm.
The weatherman has forecast that the mornings will be generally fair in the state but rain or thunderstorms could happen later in the day.
GE15 is historic as there will be a new breed of voters, those aged 18 to 20, exercising their right to vote for the first time all over Malaysia.
The voters in this age group are called the Undi18 voters after a youth movement that pursued the lowering of the voting age from 21 to 18.
Sarawak will see a total of 129,034 Undi18 voters across the 31 seats in the state.
According to the Election Commission (EC), they are among the 1,393,549 Undi18 voters throughout Malaysia.
The EC has also cautioned voters not to bring along their mobile devices to the polling booths. They will be required to leave them with the officers at the registration counters.
It will not carry out checks at polling stations for any potential positive Covid-19 cases but voters are advised to put on face masks and bring along hand sanitisers.
Voters who are Covid-19 positive are not prohibited from voting. However, they are required to update their status on MySejahtera and inform Health Ministry officers on duty at the polling stations, where they will then be separated from other voters and given priority to cast their votes.
This election is especially crucial for GPS in Sarawak as it aims at solidifying its position as a force to be reckoned with in the country in its first outing in a national polls.
It remains to be seen if GPS will play the role of kingmaker or ‘stabiliser’ in the formation of a government alliance or choose to be an opposition coalition at the federal level.
GPS is fielding candidates in all 31 parliamentary seats in Sarawak, followed by PH (including Sarawak DAP that will be using its own logo) contesting in 30 seats; Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB), 10 seats; PN, four seats; and Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS), three seats; whereas Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK), Parti Sedar Rakyat Sarawak (Sedar) and Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM), are contesting one seat each.
There are 11 independents to make it a total of 92 candidates in the fray this year.
Among the GPS parties, its backbone Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) fielded 14 candidates; Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), seven; Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), six; and Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), four.
Peninsular Malaysia-based PH comprises the Democratic Action Party (DAP), Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah). PKR fielded 16 candidates, DAP (8) and Amanah (6). However DAP will be using its own party logo in Sarawak.
The other Peninsular Malaysia-based bloc PN comprises Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) and Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS). Bersatu fielded three candidates and PAS, one, in the state.
This time around, there are eight straight-fights, 17 three-cornered contests, five four-cornered contests and one five-cornered contest for the 31 seats.
The sole five-cornered contest is in Kanowit.
The eight straight-fights are in Sarikei, Igan, Tanjong Manis, Mukah, Batang Sadong, Kota Samarahan, Hulu Rajang and Limbang.
The five four-cornered contests are in Lanang, Sri Aman, Lubok Antu, Julau and Serian; while the rest of the parliamentary seats in the state are seeing three-cornered contests.
This election in Sarawak is certainly not short of hot seats.
Among them is Julau which will see a rematch between PRS president Datuk Joseph Salang Gandum and PBM president Datuk Larry Sng, who had won Julau with a majority of 1,931 votes during the 2018 parliamentary election as an independent.
Joining the fray there are independent Elly Lawai Ngalai and PBDS’ Susan George but their involvement is not expected to have much impact on the outcome of the election.
Another hotly contested seat will be Sibu where PSB president Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh is facing GPS’ new face Clarence Ting and Sibu incumbent MP, DAP’s Oscar Ling.
Bandar Kuching and Stampin will always be the ‘must-watch’ seats because GPS-SUPP is trying its best to topple the incumbents, DAP National Youth chief Dr Kelvin Yii and Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen.
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