Votes for sale in Sarawak

Sim Kwang Yang

Elections in Western democracies is based on the cardinal principle that the vote must be free and fair. The system of party politics has evolved through many centuries of trial and error in Europe and North America.

In a young democracy like Malaysia’s, the political institutions are a long way from developing the kind of political maturity practiced by Western nations. It will take us many decades, perhaps centuries, to ensure that voting is free and fair, and that all corrupt practices are punished mercilessly by the political system.

The Achilles’ heel of our Malaysian system, especially in the context of Sarawak, is that the sanctity of the vote as an act of free and independent choice is never widely respected even by the electorate – the voters themselves.

In the eyes of the many illiterate rural voters, the vote is just another commodity that has a price and can be bought and sold just like anything else.

In every election in Sarawak, vote-buying, whether individually or in blocks, is a standard practice in many rural areas.

Voters offer political support to the highest bidders, and therefore, the person with the biggest amount of campaign funds will very often win the election. Massive corruption through payment for votes is a common phenomenon.

Any general election, especially in the rural constituencies, is an opportunity for the long-neglected voters to gain the exclusive attention of the politicians and their agents. The contesting parties will be treated like royalty wherever they go, and requests for cash and kind will be treated favourably.

Agents of the ruling party

The campaign machinery of the ruling Barisan Nasional is often manned by thousands of hired workers and representatives of the candidates.

The function of these underlings is to distribute cash and material rewards to the masses of voters, especially on the eve of the voting itself.

Occasionally, concerts and entertainment are also provided free of charge for the voters.

Cash can also be directly paid to the voters through the existing system of tua kampung (village chiefs). The standard payment is made in the name of minor development funds, which can amount to RM60 per voter.

The tua kampung in Sarawak is often regarded as agents of the ruling party and their duty includes the payment of cash for votes. They are paid approximately RM450 a month by the government, and so for all practical purposes, they are but the servants of the politicians who control the state.

Many of the instruments of control against vote buying are ineffectual because of the sheer size of the state of Sarawak. That is why corruption of the vote has gone on for so long, without effective counter measures to protect the sanctity of the vote.

Cheap talk will never win

That is why the results of general elections in Sarawak are so predictable. The groups of powerful politicians who can fork out the largest amounts of campaign funds will usually win any electoral contest. Money really talks, and cheap talk will never win.

In recent elections, there has been a wave of discontent against the BN candidates, mostly among the Chinese voters in the towns.

In all urban centres in Sarawak, the predominantly Chinese voters are financially independent and so are better informed, by virtue of the ease of communication.

That is why vote-buying has been much less successful in urban constituencies. Urban voters tend to behave more independently, hence the relative lack of success of money politics in the towns and cities.

But the majority of Sarawakians still live and work in ‘ulu’ areas. As long as they are imprisoned within their isolated remote rural enclaves, future elections in Sarawak will continue to be influenced by the corrupt practice of vote buying.

The political parties with the most money and best organisation will always enjoy this unfair advantage over their cash-strapped rivals in the opposition.

SIM KWANG YANG was member of parliament for Bandar Kuching, Sarawak from 1982 to 1995. He can be reached at sky8hornbill@gmail.com. All comments are welcomed.