BN fully aware of the pitfall of complacency

THE very idea of Barisan Nasional candidate Datin Patinggi Datuk Amar Jamilah Anu losing the Tanjong Datu byelection is unthinkable.

With her own popularity in the constituency and riding on the legacy of her late husband, Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem, it is impossible to even contemplate her losing to two lightweights from Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak Baru and State Reform party.

However, the State BN is not taking anything for granted and is unleashing the full might of its election machinery for this by-election although it took three days after nomination during which nothing seemed to be moving to crank its mojo into full swing.

BN Tanjong Datu by- election operation director Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi said the BN campaign had reached 7 in a scale of 1 to 10 on last Friday and by yesterday it has become a juggernaunt.

Any thought of BN taking it easy in Tanjong Datu was dispelled when its campaign got off the ground after the unveiling of the 17-point by- election manifesto by Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg.

There had been a steady stream of state ministers and assistant ministers meeting the people in Tanjong Datu and whipping up the support for Jamilah.

Even Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak threw his weight behind the BN campaign with his visit on Feb 10 while Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had gone down to the ground there twice.

With such intense BN campaign against the almost insignificant efforts of the opposition parties, Jamilah is expected to garner more than 90 per cent of the votes cast while voter turnout is predicted to be more than 70 per cent. BN’s campaign in Tanjong Datu seemed like an overkill but there are compelling reasons and wisdom behind it.

Nothing is certain until the votes are cast and counted and there had been cases in Sarawak when candidates who were considered certain winners suffered shock defeats at the hands of unheralded opponents.

Second Resource Planning and Environment Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan brought up the case of former SUPP president and deputy chief minister Tan Sri Wong Soon Kai at two functions which he attended on Monday in Tanjong Datu to warn against complacency.

In 1996 state election, Soon Kai was at his peak and Bukit Assek was a stronghold of SUPP but unexpectedly, due to various reasons including complacency and over- confidence, Soon Kai was defeated by DAP young upcoming politician Wong Ho Leng by a slim majority of 226 votes. That defeat spelt the end of Soon Kai’s political career as he gracefully retired after that.

Then in the 2011 state election Tan Sri Dr George Chan who took over from Soon Kai to become SUPP president and deputy chief minister suffered the same fate.

The political giant was brought down by a 27-year- old first-timer from DAP - Alan Ling Sie Kiong.

One may argue that this only happened in Chinese majority areas where factors influencing Chinese voting pattern are complicated and the influence of gambling on election outcomes could tilt results either way.

Bumiputera majority areas have also seen major upsets for BN candidates – the case of BN candidate Datuk Peter Nyarok against PKR’s debutant Ali Biju in 2011 is an example.

Nyarok with the full might of the BN election machinery behind him suffered a shock defeat to Ali in the Krian constituency in the state election.

It would not be fair to attribute Jamilah’s expected victory solely to BN’s overwhelming superiority campaign machinery as even with a level playing field in the campaigning she would still be the favourite to win as she is much respected and well-accepted by the constituents.

With victory all but assured, BN’s other focus is on the winning majority because it would be a moral victory for the PBDS Baru and Reform candidates if they could dent BN’s tally of over 92 percent of the votes cast in the last state election.However, previous experience has taught BN not to take its eyes off the finishing line but instead focus on the winning margin because in an election anything could happen.