It’s election season again

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THE mandate to rule for the present state government will come to an end the moment the state assembly is dissolved. With that also ends the tenure of office of each and every honourable legislator. Then a caretaker government, relying on the apolitical civil service, will carry on until the next one is formed. To choose a new government, a state election must be held to seek a fresh mandate from the electorate within 60 days of the dissolution of the legislature.

SOLIDARITY: BN supporters during election campaign with their flags.

Those Sarawakians having the right to vote this year have come to a crossroads — either to retain the incumbent parties in the government or else vote in a new government picked from the political organisations in the Opposition, an alternative government or government-in-waiting.

Vote for better quality of life

Voters are given the chance every five years to choose politicians who will become legislators and who will articulate their interests in the assembly as well as be good lobbyists outside it. Interests are many and varied but generally we want a change for the better in our lives: better housing, better wages, better health and medical services, better educational facilities for our children, better standard of living, better security for our neighbourhood and country, better roads, better rivers, better prices for commodities … better everything.

Officially, there is no two-party system in place in Malaysia yet. However, there is already that idea in the making, to all intents and purposes. The present incumbent state government consists of PBB, SUPP, SPDP and PRS, while the Opposition front consists of PKR, DAP, PAS and SNAP. On its own is PCM and, if it gets a few seats, it may hold the balance of power.

Either group of parties may form the next government here in Sarawak by July this year, if each side can secure a majority of the 71 seats of the state legislature. However, it is possible that no group can secure a majority; in this case, it would be a hung parliament. One must not rule out such a possibility.

As the state must have a government of some kind, a coalition government would be feasible. We encountered this situation in 1970: then, SUPP was in the Opposition but the Alliance did not have a two thirds majority after the elections, so SUPP was invited to help form the government, incidentally the first coalition government ever created in Malaysia. In this case, politics is indeed an art of the possible.

As this is a political season, expect all sorts of antics to dominate the scene. I notice some familiar behaviour among some civil servants trying to wield influence on Ketua Kaum, to vote for the party in power.

It did not surprise me when told by a Tuai Rumah in Song last week that a government official had warned him — in not so subtle a manner – to avoid being seen in the company of a potential candidate from the Opposition, who is related to him by marriage.

Any civil servant having this political bias will not make an ideal returning officer on nomination day.

One YB in Kuching has openly declared that any village chief in his constituency who allows opposition politicians to enter his village is not qualified to hold that office, as if the only qualification of a Ketua Kaum is to keep opposition party members away. Now is there a string attached to the monthly allowance of RM450 (to be raised to RM800)?

We know that politicians the world over do adopt all sorts of tactics including violence, libel, sedition, and blackmail to gain support. But manipulation of the community leaders by legislators or by civil servants (some of them) is mean. However, I also noticed that many TR, whom I met during my recent trips to the Rajang and Balleh, are not easily intimidated. I say they are a brave and reasonable lot.

During the Batang Ai by-election sometime ago, Kemas chose the campaign period to organise cooking competitions among women at Bara longhouse at Merindun. The army sent a team of dentists to extract rotten teeth of people of Rumah Sandah. One thousand troops and police put up their tents in front of longhouses.

I hope we will see none of the above activities repeated during the forthcoming election campaign.

But politics of money will be in full play this year. Like instant noodles, there will be announced projects of all descriptions.

Earth breaking for new roads will be held, bridges to be built, schemes of all sorts to be implemented. Goodies of all grades will be dished out.

These are harmless by comparison to blackmail and intimidation especially of the rural people.

These are courting days — babies to kiss, time to be nice and to look nice and important.

This is acceptable and fun.

Time to reach for relatives or old friends, even foes to make up. These are all legitimate activities during election time because friends of today will be friends of tomorrow and vice versa. In politics there is no permanent enemy or permanent friend, they say.

Expect all sorts of accusations, expect mud-slinging, expect slander and libel — these are all part of the game — a game of one-upmanship, all in the name of power and control over the lives of others. This aspect of politics is considered dirty.

Politics as such is not dirty; it’s the practitioners who are dirty when they resort to violence or money as a weapon to buy votes, when they resort to tricks and stratagems in order to acquire power at all costs. Hence the term by ‘hook or by crook’ is often used to describe a situation in which this happens.

Since time immemorial, this was a game the kings and emperors played to keep their kingdoms or territories to themselves and to add more territories and resources. There was no right to vote for anybody in the realm. Now we are told to do something different: we are told to vote if we want to choose our rulers.

Politics is about change

Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan’s statement this week is worth quoting: “Sarawak needs a visionary and stable government to be on the global progress. It does not matter whether it is formed by the ruling party or opposition party as long as it is not destructive but a constructive government.”

This is statesmanship and, I would add, a rare statement from a politician in power in Malaysia.

Automatic voter registration

Spare a thought for those – almost half a million Sarawakians out there — who cannot effect change because they cannot vote because their names are not on the electoral rolls.

Repeated calls by the Election Commission urging eligible voters to register are not effective, not enough. Allowing political parties to help register voters is not fair; those parties with money will only register those likely to vote for them.

Why can’t the Election Commission introduce automatic registration?

Any citizen upon reaching the age of 21 is deemed to be a registered voter for the purpose of the election ordinance and his or her name is automatically transferred onto the rolls for reference at the polling booths. Any voter has the right to choose in which constituency he or she wishes to vote. After all, it is their right to choose their own representatives in Parliament or Dewan Undangan Negeri, as the case may be.

The Election Commission should change its mindset, if we are really serious about empowering the voters, especially the young ones. The present system clearly deprives them of their voting rights.

Compulsory voting

It’s not unreasonable to suggest that the Election Commission study — if it has not already done so — the feasibility to make voting compulsory as it is practised in Singapore and Australia.

For the forthcoming election, this is clearly not possible, but there is time for MPs from Sarawak to bring this matter for consideration by Parliament as part of the political reform that Umno is talking about and see what the response of the federal government will be.

My vote goes to …

As I have made up my mind whom to vote for, my vote goes to the candidate who advocates all of the above. I realise it is only one little cross against the name of a candidate and like one proverbial swallow it does not make a summer. I can only hope that those who subscribe to this idea will similarly cast their votes on that issue, which has deprived so many Malaysians of their rights to choose legislators of their choice.