Sarawak elections would have far-reaching implications to Chinese community

Writer: Yuan Zong
Sin Chew, 2015-10-26

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi openly said that the 2016 Budget is for the Sarawak state election. Clearly, Barisan has taken Sarawak’s support of the Federal Government very seriously. In plain language, Barisan’s support rate in the Sarawak state election would be an indicator of the extent the series of controversies which have affected Barisan lately. It would also affect Barisan’s interpretation of the Chinese voting trend nationwide.

Frankly, even without the popularity of Chief Minister Adenan, Sarawak Barisan could still win the forthcoming elections. What Barisan is concerned with is whether it can win back the seats taken by DAP in the previous elections.

Obviously, the election results of Chinese-dominated constituencies will affect the central government’s lobbying of Chinese votes and thus, the voting trend of the Chinese will be closely watched. The question is whether the Chinese would prioritize national issues or give Adenan another five more years.

Even though the Sarawak polls are only a state election, it would have far reaching implications to the Chinese community based on current situation. The Chinese aspire to have a two-party system and hope it would bring a fresh change to the political situation. It is true the two-party system has been practiced by many advanced nations, but the Chinese community must also consider our political reality and the different situation in our nation.

If the Chinese kept making political demands based on our own interest, the two-party system would never win the support of other races. The Chinese community must realize that without racial harmony as the foundation, even if there was a change of government, would all the problems be resolved? It would be unrealistic because such aspiration is only one-sided. The Chinese, instead of complaining about being victimized by rival parties in their political struggle, should re-examine ourselves and ask whether we have done enough in the past 58 years to improve racial harmony.

We must understand that in history, political reforms in most countries must take consideration of the majority with entrenched interest. It would be counter-productive if we tried to ram through political reforms. Any change of government must have the support and participation of the major races. Otherwise, it would only trigger off more racial issues.

Based on the current situation, if Adenan won with strong support, it would beef up his bargaining power with the central government in his fight for greater autonomy. The Chinese have to consider that in a multiracial country, the minority should never fall into the trap of zero-sum game. All political consideration should be based on our changing situation.

The Chinese in Sarawak must take consideration of the overall political situation and make full use of their wisdom in seizing the current opportunity to avoid the consequences of putting all the eggs into one basket.

Original Source:
砂州州選對華社影響深遠