Alice Lau
SIBU (Oct 21): All eligible voters must come out to vote in the coming election instead of shying away and only venting their anger or dissatisfaction when the new government is formed, Lanang incumbent MP Alice Lau Kiong Yien said.
By not coming out to vote, she said these voters are basically throwing away their constitutional rights while letting others determine their destiny.
“This is the best chance to make your voice heard and remember, every vote counts,” she said when contacted.
Lau concurred that the electorate was angry and disappointed over the country’s political development, due partly to the `Sheraton Move’ in 2020 when the legally elected Pakatan Harapan (PH) government was toppled by the backdoor Perikatan Nasional (PN) after just 22 months in power.
As a result, she said many voters were no longer keen to vote in the coming election, having the mentality that whichever parties they voted for made no difference nor could bring any changes.
She said this was the more reason why they should come out to vote in order to punish the traitors and to tell the people that they wanted a clean and fair government.
“We cannot stop there. Reform simply must continue,” she added.
The 41-year-old DAP state deputy chairperson said the people should not blame everything on the 22-months short lived PH government for not carrying out its reforms and promises.
She said the implementation of Undi18 was one of the constitutional reforms successfully carried out by the PH which lowered the voting age to 18 years.
For Lanang constituency, she said the electoral roll would see an increase of more than 20,000 voters, including those who were not registered in the last parliamentary election.
Lau, however, stopped short of saying whether the Undi18 voters would be the game changer and whether they would be making any impact in the coming election.
“It’s hard to tell really and nobody knows whether these youngsters will vote for which coalitions. So basically, the guessing game stops there and it will be naïve to think that they are on the opposing side,” she added.
The Lanang parliamentary constituency is made up of Dudong and Bukit Assek state constituencies.
In the 2018 parliamentary election, Lau garnered 29,905 votes to retain the Lanang seat with a majority of 14,546 votes in a three-cornered fight.
SUPP’s Kelvin Kong secured 15,539 votes while Sarawak Peace Party’s Priscilla Lau obtained 628 votes.
Asked about her chance in the coming election, Lau said it was still too early to talk about that as she is yet to receive her appointment letter.
“But I will never underestimate my opponents whoever they are as all the candidates have their own calibre and personalities. Their respective parties have the reasons to pick their candidates and that is something not for me to comment.”
So far, only Priscilla, who is now Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) secretary, had announced her candidacy for the Lanang seat while it’s still a guessing game on the two SUPP potential candidates – Sibu Municipal Council councillor Raymond Tiong and Sibu Rural District Council (SRDC) deputy chairman Wong Ching Yong.
The possibility of an Independent candidate vying for the seat could not be ruled out also, Lau added.
The two-term Lanang incumbent said she had never failed the people and had worked hard to serve the people since she was first elected as an MP.
“The people can judge my track record and my conscience is clear. During the Movement Control Order (MCO) in 2020-2021, I brought lots of assistance and financial aids to the needy through my own expenses and I had also been at the forefront when my help was needed.”