The final lap ahead of the tightest elections in Sarawak history

With less than 24 hours ahead of the much anticipated 10^th Sarawak state elections, leaders from both sides of the political divide strived for a late push in order to secure victory for their respective parties. Although a large number of Sarawakians have already made up their minds on their preferred candidate and party, there remain a significant amount of fence sitters who can still be swayed at the last minute. According to political analysts, these fence sitters will ultimately determine the outcome of the elections.

Within the Barisan Nasional camp, 1Malaysia concerts and performances were held throughout the state during the past few days. The ruling coalition went to the extent of importing foreign artists and performers. On top of that, free meals were offered on a daily basis, as Prime Minister Najib Razak and Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud launching a desperate bid to charm the hearts of the Sarawakians with soothing music and scrumptious food.

Bicycles, LCD televisions as well as 1Malaysia Tupperware were also distributed in an attempt to diverge the people’s attention from the issues which have affected Sarawakians for the past four decades. However, talks and speeches by national leaders of Barisan Nasional who came all the way from the peninsula saw lackluster response. Elizabeth Wong, leader of PKR, chided BN by tweeting yesterday that: "PM event in Miri less than 1k, ppl went for free mee/nasi goreng then left for PR ceramah where now 20k gathered."

The reason for the low attendance of Barisan Nasional events was attributed to public revulsion for Chief Minister Taib Mahmud and Prime Minister Najib Razak. Both BN leaders are perceived to have failed to address the underlying issues in Sarawak, such as poverty, land grabs, underdevelopment, corruption and mismanagement of the state.

Instead of righting Taib's wrongs, Najib made it worse by endorsing the 74-year despot, who has been accused of massive corruption and power abuse. As the leader of the federal government, Najib had been expected to do more. But sadly, he never once spoke up for the people of Sarawak.

With scandals of his own, Najib and his entourage resorted to the never ending character assassination of opposition politicians. Besides that, they tried to create an impression to the Sarawakians that Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim and his Pakatan Rakyat coalition are incompetent and lacks experience when it comes to governing a state.

But Azmin Ali, deputy president of PKR, rebutted this at a recent ceramah when he said that indeed, Pakatan Rakyat has no experience but only in the areas of corruption and cheating the people!

Many of the locals, when interviewed, believe that the future looks bleak under Taib and Najib. Neither can or will reform the other. Sarawakians were also unfazed by the BN-controlled media which exploited the issues surrounding an Omega watch in a sex video as well as statements made by blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin.

In fact, many believe that the recent avalanche and chronology of negative reports about the Opposition by the government-controlled media were politically motivated and that Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor are initiators behind the scenes.

Despite the attacks, Pakatan continues to draw large crowds to their public rallies. On Wednesday, 20,000 Sarawakians gathered under the skies of Miri to attend a talk hosted by the opposition. The crowd listened attentively to the leaders of Pakatan, who seized the opportunity to belt out facts and figures of how Barisan Nasional had deceived Sarawakians since independence.

Nga Kor Ming, the DAP MP for Taiping, quashed fears that the constituencies of Miri will be underprivileged if members of the opposition alliance were voted in to the Sarawak state assembly. Instead, he pointed to the Opposition strongholds in the peninsula such as Bukit Bintang, which saw tremendous growth and was transformed into the major hub and heartland of Kuala Lumpur.

The SUPP, led by George Chan, was also not sparred from criticism either. According to Nga, SUPP has played a vital role in assisting and aiding Taib's PBB in terms of corruption, cronyism and nepotism.

He accused George Chan of following in the footsteps of Taib Mahmud to amass long lists of properties and wealth. The SUPP president also is vying for a seat in Miri itself, and in view of the momentum in the city for the Pakatan, a giant-killing act is indeed on the cards.

On Thursday night, Miri maintained its 20,000 attendance whereas Sibu and Kuching saw similar crowds for opposition rallies. The number of people out on the streets chanting ‘Change’ as well as ‘Reformasi’ drew parallels with the political tsunami of 3 years ago.

Sarawakians have testified that such crowds and spirits have never occurred in the history of their state, and that the mood for a change in government is soaring as election looms nearer.

What remains to be seen is the vote in the interiors - the heartlands and strongholds of PBB and Taib Mahmud. Whether Pakatan can outwit and outlast Barisan, and also fend off the huge discrepancies and irregularities of the electoral system is also crucial.

If Anwar and Pakatan succeeds, tomorrow will definitely be the turning point of Malaysian politics. - Malaysia Chronicle