Sarawak Election 2006 - Can it be free and fair?

A new news and another gallery categories on Sarawak Election 2006 is now available for the upcoming Sarawak State Election.

The 9th Sarawak State Election is to take place just after the 9th Malaysian Plan, the 5-yearly national development plan of the country had just been approved by the national parliament. It is purely coincidental of course. The supposed independent Election Commission had set nomination day on 9th May and the polling day will be on 20th May.

For Sarawakians, the upcoming election will perhaps see some livelier contest, as for a long time, there had not been such a coordinated opposition alliance in which this time round, former ruling coalition politicians-turned-opposition is teaming with the only opposition party since its inception – Parti Keadilan Rakyat - to take on the resource and power-rich ruling National Front coalition. So, this should be a more challenging election to watch. To what extend this challenge will prove to be depends on the voters, to a certain extent. Now why only a certain extent? Voters will have the final say in situation to which they can vote according to what would be collectively best for them, without threat, inducement and \"sweet\" promises. In addition, if only election would be free and fair, not just to the political parties, but free and fair to the voters too.

In Malaysia, and more blatantly in the Sarawak context, where outright threat against the voters can be issued by ruling politicians and get away unpunished by any law of the land, voters are more often than not being held to ransom. This is especially so for the rural voters. The by-election of Ba\' Kalalan in interior Sarawak in September 2004 revealed how When votes were tallied at designated polling stations - yet another critical weakness of the electoral process - collective punishment was mooted out when vote-counting allowed for identification of voters from an areas who voted for non-ruling party candidate. Even though the ruling coalition candidate won, that did not stop the Sarawak Government from immediately announcing its intention to stop a \"development\" project - rural growth area - planned for the area where communities had voted for the independent candidate then.

While such is a blatant threat which will serve as reminder to communities contemplating voting non-ruling coalition candidates, that does not stop even federal minister from issuing threat against Sarawak voters as a whole for the upcoming election. The Sarawakian Federal Minister for Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister, who is also the Member of Parliament for Miri in Sarawak, was reported in The Star newspaper of 30th April 2006 as saying \"vote for the opposition and you may lose projects proposed under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP).\" Blackmail, holding voters to ransom or however you choose to call such irresponsible and illegal act, the ruling coalition seems immuned from the laws of the land.

Change must be forced upon such and other illegal and irresponsible act coming from the ruling parties. Sarawakian voters all know that money politics are aplenty, but the voters also need to change, in order to bring about greater changes in the system, of not just voting, but governance. Evidence is needed.

This is where Rengah Sarawak calls upon voters and their friends and families, especially those from rural areas, to arm yourselves with either camera, audio recorded or video recorder or all of them - if you can have access to them of course - and act as the people who will keep the politicians honest. Secretly record any illegal acts - bribing, giving of gifts, threats etc - and pass them on to us and others who will then expose them and their illegal acts.

So bring out your cameras, your video recorders, your audio recorders and help capture audio, video and visual of political parties and politicians carrying out corrupt practices before and during the election period. Submit with details of place, date, time, state seat that the place falls under, contact details if appropriate and any other comments to describe your audio, video and or visual submission. All submissions will be treated with strictest confidentiality.

If all the propaganda talk of Malaysian IT (Information Technology) supremacy is a rhetoric in your rural areas - where it is likely that the basic electricity is not even available, least of all any IT infrastructure - arrange to send them to us when convenient. We will publicize various contact details for you to get in touch in due time.

Thus the new news category of Sarawak Election Monitoring 2006 – to ask the masses to act as eyes, ears and mouth of Sarawak Election.

Until then, happy voting to the Sarawak voters and may citizen powers rule over corrupt politicians.