Snap is a concern, admits Anwar

Syed Jaymal Zahiid

Three-cornered fights as a result of Snap contesting will only split votes to favour the BN.

KUCHING: Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim conceded that the three-cornered fights between them and Sarawak National Party (Snap) will affect their chances.

Anwar’s PKR is pitted in a tripled-cornered contest against Snap in 26 Dayak-majority seats and said although the latter’s presence is minimal in these constituencies, they can still split the votes and dent PKR’s ambitions.

The scenario is only likely to benefit Barisan Nasional, said the former deputy prime minister.

“The vibrancy of PKR’s campaign is visible and better but although their (Snap) presence is not there, our concern is that Snap will split the votes,” he told a press conference here.

Snap was once meant to be an electoral ally to PKR but a split was imminent when seat-allocation talks collapsed as both refused to climb down from asking more seats and attempt to wield more influence among the Dayak voters.

Anwar, who arrived here today to kickstart his campaign trail in the state capital officially, said his visits to other parts of Sarawak, including the interiors, have shown that the Dayak votes were leaning either towards Pakatan Rakyat or BN, and not Snap.

Harassment and intimidation
Pakatan leaders have accused Snap of sabotage attempt and of having the backing of the ruling coalition and Anwar reiterated this today and urged caution.



Apart from Snap’s presence (photo), the opposition bloc claimed their campaigning trail have also been bogged by harassment and intimidation by their political foes.

Pakatan is aiming to break BN’s dominance in Sarawak by increasing their current seven seats to at least 15.

The target is enough to send a strong protest signal against the nation’s longest-serving Chief Minister Taib Mahmud and perhaps to force him to resign.

Ethnicity again as campaign fodder

Campaigning has hit the fifth day and battles heightened with propaganda, from the personal and racial to the ideological, reigning.

Among them are reports of battles played along religious and racial lines where news of PKR Sarawak chief Baru Bian’s candidacy as the state chief minister was used to scare local Malays.

Accusations were rife that Malays and Islam will be threatened should a Christian Orang Ulu like Baru be in charge.

Anwar said this was a scare tactic typically used by BN and cited Penang as an example where the leadership of DAP Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has been accused as being anti-Malay and anti-Islam.

“The Malays and Melanaus under the Melanau leadership are plagued by poverty,” said Anwar, referring to Taib who is a Muslim-Melanau which forms Sarawak’s second largest electorate.