Associate Professor Bridget Welsh opined that religion could play a part in the electoral process in future elections.
“This is more so in the post-discussion on the Allah issue. Many Sarawakians are uncomfortable with the decision.
“The decision needs to be clarified and negotiated as Sarawak has multi-ethnic and multi-religious groups.
“Religious identity is slowly coming into the politics of Sarawak,” she said.
Welsh was speaking to reporters at the Borneo Post-sponsored Second International Conference on Elections and Democracy: Continuity and Change in Unimas yesterday. Her keynote address was on “The More Things Change, The More Things Stay the Same? Elections in Southeast Asia”.
Welsh, who teaches comparative politics, gender and international relations at Singapore Management University, is a seasoned political analyst with first-hand experience in elections held in Malaysia, Singapore and other parts of Southeast Asia.
During the conference, she noted that one of the major trends in Sarawak politics was the shift to younger voters.
She said many of the younger voters were fence-sitters and that the next election “is really about the under 30 voters.
“Many young people are disengaged with the political process and are not registered voters.
“This could be a strength to whichever party, be it government or opposition, that register and engage with them,” she said.
She also noted the transition of leadership within political parties, as another inevitable shift.
“It is a good trend over the years, with more women representation and younger candidates, which we can see in PBB and DAP. It is about who’s coming in and how they engage the people.
“This could be one reason PBB did well in the last election and will continue to be an important aspect in the future,” she said alluding to PBB’s performance in the 2011 state and the recent parliamentary elections.
In the April 2011 state election, PBB under the helm of Chief Minister Taib Mahmud had retained 100% its constituencies much to the surprise of federal leaders.
In the May 2013 general election PBB once again kept its 14 seats. In the GE13, PBB had fielded more women and younger party members.
PBB’s strength lies in the periphery, mixed and interior constituency seats.
Meanwhile its Chinese ally, Sarawak United Peoples Party (SUPP), which hogged the urban seats was almost wiped out. It retained only one of the seven seats contested.
Welsh said there was a need for more effort to ensure rural communities exercised their right to vote.
“In the last election some polling stations were too far from the rural communities. This should be taken into consideration by making polling stations closer for the sake of older voters.
“It can be transformation in the administrative aspect that enables all Sarawakians to participate in elections,” she said.
As for the Chinese voters, Welsh whose speech covered 10 major shifts in Southeast Asian politics – with focus on politics in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, The Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and Timor Leste – opined that they were not at risk.
“The Chinese make-up a large part of the population and are as important as the other races.
“There are many deciding voters and kingmakers in Malaysia and they are not confined to ethnicity. They include the young people, women and others.
“SUPP and MCA are powerful because they represent their community well but have lost touch with their ground.
“There is a need for significant reforms within the parties so they will be seen as relevant representation again,” she said.
FMT News
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