Saturday, April 16, 2011

For BN, a hollow victory

Despite Barisan Nasional’s victory in the 10th Sarawak state elections, allegations of electoral fraud and vote buying continue to haunt the ruling coalition. Instead of playing by the rules, it looks like BN has adopted cunning and fraudulent tactics to achieve this win.

Teo Nie Ching, MP for Serdang, tweeted that : “in SRJK Chung Hua, a polling station, EC tried to issue 2 ballot papers to 1 voter. Luckily our PACA spotted & stopped it.” Many similar accounts were reported through out the state, as EC stepped up a gear to cheat and deceive the people, while proving that it is indeed a government stooge and agent.

Besides that, Elizabeth Wong, PKR assemblywoman for Bukit Lanjan, also testified that slips of ‘Undi BN’ were given to every voter by EC clerks. 1Malaysia and Barisan Nasional banners were also suspended under the ceilings of most polling centres, turning them into playgrounds and turfs of Barisan Nasional.

The Election Commission was also deemed as carrying out a ‘modus operandi’ for Barisan Nasional, as they manipulate rules and regulations to maximize gains for the coalition. Bernama reported that 800 polling centres were closed at 12pm, amidst voter turnout well below 50% at that point of time. This move was seen as one to restrict youths, who have tendencies of waking up late when compared to their elderly peers, from voting.

As Barisan Nasional acknowledges that youth nowadays are more politically inclined and tend to favour the opposition due to the anti-Taib sentiment, such Machiavellian and cunning tactics employed by the EC had certainly paid off handsomely. Youths who showed up at polling centres after 12pm were left in disappointment as they could not exercise their democratic right to vote. Complaints and reports were made for such exploitation and manipulation but to no avail.

Why they are called Taib's strongholds

As results were announced, a simple comparison in the number of voters between BN strongholds and opposition strongholds was shocking. Most of the seats won by the opposition saw more than 15,000 voters in one constituency, whereas most BN strongholds had significantly lesser voters. The seat of Pending, won by DAP, saw 21,274 Sarawakians voting. On top of that, Bukit Assek had 18,504 voters, Kota Sentosa at 20,559, Pelangan with 20,336 and 18,440 voters at Batu Lintang, all of which are seats won by the opposition. This is a startling contrast when compared to BN strongholds.

Only 8 out of 55 seats won by BN had voters ranging from 10,000 to 13,000. The others were at least 3 or 4 times less than those captured by Pakatan Rakyat, with the majority of them ranging from 5,000 to 7,000 voters. These stellar figures go against the fundamental theory of 'one vote-one count' adopted all over the world.

Most countries have a rule that the number of voters in the least-dense constituency must have at least 80% of the number of voters densest constituency. The EC, however, had not only ignored such democratic rules, in fact, they capitalized on and exploited the lack of such rules to advantage for Barisan Nasional. Gerrymandering skills were used to manipulate constituency borderlines as well as number of voters in a seat, in a bid to restrict and hinder the progress of the emerging opposition.

Barisan Nasional had also reaped dividends from their goodies-giving approach. Electronic appliances, devices as well as vehicles were distributed to Sarawakians, as well as free concerts and meals on a daily basis. The indigenous people in the rural areas were also receiving a tidy sum of money in exchange for a vote to the desperate regime. Reports from the locals that figures ranging from RM50 to RM1000 were offered, as Barisan Nasional and Najib Razak rely heavily on such illegitimate and illicit methods to cling onto power.

BN might have succeeded in exploiting and extorting those living in hardcore poverty, but had failed with such tactics in semi-urban and urban seats. A total reversal of fortunes was witnessed in major towns like Kuching, Sibu and Miri, as Barisan Nasional experienced a humiliating total whitewash. The urbanites handed Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) a hard lesson as heavyweights like George Chan and Tiong Thai King were defeated. In fact, the victories achieved by the opposition in these urban and semi-urban constituencies were capped with resounding majorities.

Barisan Nasional’s persistence of employing dirty tactics and approaches has brought our country to a new low in terms of democracy, transparency and fairness. The desperation of the coalition to sacrifice principles and ethics in exchange for votes is one which should be rejected and despised by the people.

It is therefore a blessing in disguise for Pakatan Rakyat for their failure to deny the two-thirds majority held by Barisan Nasional, as Malaysians have witnessed the true colours of a fading evil regime and will certainly vent their anger come the next general elections.

[Source: MC]

The Sarawak State Election Results

CONTESTED
WON
PBB 35 35
SUPP 19 6
PRS 9
8
SPDP 8
6
.
DAP 15 12
PKR 49 3
PAS 5 0
.
PCM 6 0
SNAP 26 0
IND 41 1

DAP's gains and losses

At 7.03 pm, the unofficial results .....

Pandungan
DAP 10,688
BN 3,059 Majority : 7,629

Pending
DAP 8,305
BN 4,347 Majority : 3,958

Kota Sentosa
DAP 12,594
BN 7,776 Majority : 7,818 [Despite postal votes of 3,000]

Batu Kawah
DAP 832
BN 1,398 Majority : -566

Repok
DAP 470
BN 448 Majority : 22

Meradong
DAP 1,969
BN 1,170 Majority : 799

Bukit Assek
DAP 11,497
BN 3,884 Majority : 7,613

Dudong
DAP 4,258
BN 4,878 Majority : -620

Bawang Assan
DAP 4,352
BN 5,944 Majority : -1,572

Pelawan
DAP 2,951
BN 1,767 Majority : 1,184

Kidurong
DAP 7,028
BN 3,159 Majority : 3,869

Piasau
DAP 5,268
BN 4,162 Majority : 1,106

Pujut
DAP 3,589
BN 2,242 Majority : 1,347

Bukit Kota
DAP 117
BN 1,402 Majority : -1,285


The DAP scores and out goes George Chan

6.30pm: Of the 15 seats contested by DAP, it is set to win 10, with three still up for grabs. It is defeated in two (Bawang Assan and Bukit Kota)

DAP is leading in Piasau, which is held by SUPP chief Dr George Chan.

DAP: 4,486
SUPP: 3,209
Majority: 1,277

Other DAP results as follows:

Kota Sentosa
SUPP: 3,408
DAP: 1,497

Majority 1,921
Postal votes has contributed to SUPP win.

Pending
DAP: 558
SUPP: 348

Majority: 210

Padungan
DAP: 2,001
SUPP: 695

Majority: 1,306

For Pakatan, so far so good but not out of the woods yet

At 5.55 pm: Pakatan Rakyat extended its lead over BN in 20 seats, previously regarded as the BN 'fixed deposit' seats. These include include N08 Satok, N17 Tarat, N49 Nangka, N58 Jepak, N23 Lingga, N61 Bekenu, N01 Opar, N54 Pelagus, N02 Tasik Biru, N05 Demak, N18 Tebedu, N19 Kedup, N31 Layar, N34 Krian, N42 Meluan, N43 Ngemah, N50 Dalat, N52 Tamin, N53 Kakus, N57 Belaga, N58 Jepak, N70 Ba'kelalan.

(Scroll below to see Table of Results. Please note these are unofficial figures and counting has still a long way to go)


CONSTITUENCY
BN

PRBN VOTESPR VOTES
N01 OPARRanum MinaVSBoniface W. Tumek60
69

N02 TASIK BIRUPeter N. NgusieVSJohn Tenewi5263
N03 TANJUNG DATUAdenan SatemVSNani Sahori


N04 PANTAI DAMAIA.Rahman JunaidiVSWan Zainal Abidin


N05 DEMAK LAUTHazland HipniVSAli Hossen Abang25
76

N06 TUPONGDaud A.RahmanVSBaharuddin


N07 SAMARIANGSharifah HasidahVSZulrusdi Mohd Hol


N08 SATOKAmar ZohariVSAhmad N.Johari20
25

N09 PADUNGANSim Kiang ShiokVSWong King Wei


N10 PENDINGSim Kui HianVSViolet Yong


N11 BATU LINTANGSih Hua TongVSSee Chee How


N12 KOTA SENTOSAAlfred YapVSChong Chieng Jen


N13 BATU KAWAHTan Joo PhoiVSChristina Chiew WS


N14 ASA JAYAAbd Karim R.HamzahVSArip Ameran


N15 MUARA TUANGMohd Ali MahmudVSNoraini Hamzah


N16 BENGOHBelek SusilVSWillie Mongin


N17 TARATR.Sagah Wee InnVSPeter Ato Mayau80
910

N18 TEBEDUMichael ManyinVSChristopher Kiyui76
162

N19 KEDUPMaclaine BenVSLainus Andrew216
243

N20 SADONG JAYAAidil LariwooVSAbang Eddy


N21 SIMUNJANNaroden MajaisVSMashor Hossen


N22 SEBUYAUJulaihi NerawiVSAdam Ahid


N23 LINGGASimoi PeriVSAbg Ahmad Arabi369
795

N24 BETING MARORazaili GaporVSAbg Ahmad Kardee


N25 BALAI RINGINSnowdan LawanVSIbi Uding


N26 BKT BENGUNANMong DagangVSJimmy Donald


N27 SIMANGGANGFrancis HardenVSLeon Jimat


N28 ENGKILILIJohnical RayongVSMarudi


N29 BATANGAl MalcomVSNicholas Bawin


N30 SARIBASRicky@Mohd. RaziVSAbg Zulkifli


N31 LAYARAlfred JabuVSStanny Embat4874
N32 BUKIT SABAN
Robert LawsonVS
Jerah Engkiong


N33 KALAKAAbdul WahabVSMohjd Yahya


N34 KRIANPeter NyarokVSAli Biju
Leading by majority of 3000 votes. As
at 2.30 pm, PKR
won 45 boxes lost
4.

N35 BELAWAILen TalifVSAbdul Wahah


N36 SEMOPAbdullah Saidol
VSKiprawi Suhaili


N37 DAROMurni SuhailiVSJamaludin Ibrahim


N38 JEMORENGAbu Seman JahwieVS



N39 REPOKDavid TengVSWong Hua Seh


N40 MERADONGLing Lie King
VSTing Tze Fui


N41 PAKANWilliam MawanVS



N42 MELUANWong Ak JudatVSJohn Brian125
131

N43 NGEMAHAlexander VincentVSAris Alap3476. PCM 55
N44 MACHANGramong JunaVSChen Nguk Fa


N45 BUKIT ASSEKChieng Buong ToonVSWong Ho Leng


N46 DUDONGTiong Thai KingVSYap Hoi Liong


N47 BAWANG ASSANWong Soon KohVSAlice Lau


N48 PELAWANVincent GohVSDavid Wong


N49 NANGKAAnuar RapieeVSNorisham Mohd85
146

N50 DALATFatimah AbdullahVSSylvester Ajah19
53

N51 BALINGIANTaib MahmudVSSuriati Abdullah


N52 TAMINJoseph MauhVSMengga Mikui3893
N53 KAKUSJohn SikieVSPaul Anyie210394
N54 PELAGUSStanley UnjaVSEdward Sumbang17
68

N55 KATIBASAmbrose BlikauVSMunan Laja


N56 BALEHJames JemutVSBendindang Manjah


N57 BELAGALiwan LagangVSBasah Kesing82
170

N58 JEPAKTalip ZulpilipVSAbd Jalil Bujang130182
N59 KIDURONGHenry LingVSChiew Chiu Sing


N60 KEMENAStephen RundiVSBernard Binar


N61 BEKENURosey AidingVSIshak Mahwi52
98. SNAP 56

N62 LAMBIRRipin LamatVSZolhaidah Suboh


N63 PIASAUGeorge ChanVSLing Sie Kiong


N64 PUJUTAndy ChiaVSFong Pau Teck


N65 SENADINLee Kim ShinVSMichael Teo


N66 MARUDISylvester EntriVS



N67 TELANG USANDennis NgauVSHarrison Ngau


N68 BUKIT KOTAAbdul RahmanVSLeong Kwong Yaw


N69 BATU DANAUPalu GumbangVSLau Liak Koi


N70 BA'KELALANWillie LiauVSBaru Bian12701747
N71 BUKIT SARIAmar AwangVSJapar Suyut



Source: MC