‘Poser on Peninsula, Sabah; S’wak still BN fixed deposit’
KUCHING: Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah will be interesting to watch in the upcoming 14th General Election (GE14) as there are credible opposition figures but not for Sarawak as it will remain a BN stronghold, opines a political observer Dr Arnold Puyok of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak ( Unimas).
He believes that BN could still win the GE14 but it will have to slog it out in many states in Peninsular Malaysia, especially in Kedah as it is opposition leader Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s stronghold. So too, the BN will face an uphill task in Selangor, Penang and Kelantan, which he considers as ‘gone- case’ for the ruling coalition.
Arnold, who is a Sabahan, added that Sabah could see the BN suffer in many seats where the opposition fronts are strong, especially in some of the KadazanDusun areas and in Parti Warisan Sabah president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal’s strongholds in the East Coast.
“But on the overall, the BN under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will prevail as he is in control of both the government and BN machineries which are crucial to win the GE14 that has been described as the ‘Mother of all elections’,” Arnold said when contacted yesterday.
He said the opposition under former Premier Dr Mahathir will not be able to get enough seats in the 222-seat Parliament to form a government.
“But the BN’s majority could be affected and perhaps with a much reduced majority from the current 133 seats,” he reiterated.
As for Sarawak, Arnold, who is the Deputy Dean of Research and Postgraduate studies from, the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Unimas, said it will remain as a BN ‘fixed deposit’ as it is rock solid under Chief Minister and PBB president Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg and its three coalition partners of Sarawak United Peoples Party ( SUPP), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and Progressive Democratic Party ( PDP).
“There are not many issues in Sarawak that would sway the voters away from the BN. Furthermore the opposition is very fragmented here with seemingly no credible leaders,” he stressed.
On Najib’s appeal to Malaysians to give him another five-year mandate in his special speech aired live over TV1 yesterday, Arnold pointed out that to win the people’s confidence, the Prime Minister must be able to communicate it well to the grassroots through winnable and credible candidates who will be fielded in the coming GE14.
“It is crucial for the Prime Minister to pick the most winnable and credible candidates as it would be a very tough fight against the powerful tool of the social media,” he stressed.
On another issue, Arnold said the current democratic system being practised in the country through ‘First pass the post wins the election’ should be improved so that the number of voters in all constituencies will be more balanced.
“As of now, there are many seats where the gap between huge number of voters and small one are too big. It has to be reduced to make it more balanced in future, to reflect the importance of popular votes, which is crucial in a democratic system which we are practising,” he added.