Persuading fence-sitters may be tough for all parties

Fence-sitters in Sabah aplenty because people generally cannot find good reasons to choose one party over another.

Zainnal : Many of these fence-sitters cannot see any credible party in this so-called “mother of all elections”.

KOTA KINABALU: Political parties trying to woo voters who have yet to make up their mind on who to support have their work cut out for them, given the confusion, disdain and even nonchalance among this segment of the electorate.

Political activist Zainnal Ajamain attributed such attitudes to the fact that many of these fence-sitters cannot see any credible party in this so-called “mother of all elections”.

“A lot of people can no longer stand the political rhetoric of politicians and their supporters. They want tangible results for issues that affect them personally.

“Any party can come up with a manifesto but voters are now aware these are mere political promises that can be forgotten once the parties win in the polls,” he said.

During his recent visit to the state, Prime Minister Najib Razak called on Sabah BN leaders to reach out to “persuadable” voters to convince them to support the ruling coalition.

He recalled that in the last election, BN had won some parliamentary areas by narrow margins of less than 1,000 votes and that there were now some 6,000 to 7,000 new voters in some of these areas.

“The BN should find out how they are likely to cast their ballots. If they tell us they are undecided, we need to reach out to them,” he said.

Towards this end, Zainnal said the presence of too many alternatives, especially in the opposition side, could work in BN’s favour in the state.

Confused by too many options on their platter, he believes many of these fence-sitters, once election day comes, will prefer the status quo and choose BN because of its proven stability.

Zainnal, however, cautioned that the younger voters may be more inclined to copy their neighbours in Sarawak who chose local-based parties over national-based parties in the Sarawak state election in 2016 as regionalism continues to spread across both the Bornean states.

Heldora says she would vote for anyone that her family members voted for.

A street poll conducted by FMT found that there are those who would prefer to go with the flow when the time comes.

Shop assistant Heldora Estol, 25, said the next election would be her second and like the previous one, she would vote for anyone that her family members voted for.

“I don’t follow politics much, so I don’t have anybody in mind. I see many people talking politics on social media but, for me, it does not matter much,” she said, adding that her family traditionally voted for BN but would not say what their stand will be this time around.

Rajimi says that the government should be more sensitive to the needs of the people and not practise double standards.

On the other hand, two contractors said they would not be turning up at the polling booth this year. In fact, Rajimi Salleh, 38 and his colleague Safary Sanusi, 31, have never taken part in the democratic process.

“What’s the point? It’s like jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire if you look at what is being offered to us,” said Rajimi, a registered voter in the Papar constituency.

Safary : No matter who we vote for, the result will be the same.

His beef against the current administration is mostly because of the lack of affordable housing available to people like him. He said despite appying for the people’s housing programme three times in the past, he was still without a house to call his own.

He complained that the government should be more sensitive to the needs of the people and not practise double standards.

“I saw many of the people living in PPR homes can afford nice imported cars. The cars are all properly parked within the housing area. How can they afford that if they are so poor and in need of homes from the government?”

Safary concurred with Rajimi, adding that currently, no matter who they voted for, the result will be the same.

“Those in the opposition now used to be in the government. They could have done something then. Why only now they want to talk?”

Sarmidi believes any government should give priority to the people’s welfare before anything else.

Self-employed Sarmidi Sahanan, 35, of Ulu Kimanis, believed any government should give priority to the people’s welfare before anything else.

“I am still on the fence although I admit I am leaning towards one end now. But whatever it is, I will vote for the party I think can help the people more,” he said.

Wan Fauziah: Why must we change when we have everything we need now?

Housewife Wan Fauziah Din, 45, declared she would be voting for BN again simply because she believed the current administration has proven its capability in governing the nation well.

She said she had been approached by members of a certain opposition party to come and listen to their campaign speeches but said she was suspicious of them.

“Why must we change when we have everything we need now? We are happy and provided for,” she said.

Like Wan Fauziah, self-employed Siti Maziah Awang Binting, 37, from Benoni, Papar, also said she would definitely vote for BN, specifically current Papar MP Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin and Pantai Manis assemblyman Rahim Ismail.

“These leaders are very approachable and very good for the people. Yes, there are many young people who are actively promoting the opposition in social media but if there are a thousand of them, there are two thousand of us voting BN,” she said. -FMT