Nomination Day crowds are not a sufficient indicator of voting strength or the prospects for victory. So comparisons between the crowds that turned up at the sports complex in Lubok Antu for nominations at the Batang Ai by-election should be hedged at best.
Until returning officer Nelson Munjah announced on the public address system the opening of the nomination process at 9am, flag-waving supporters of both the Barisan Nasional and the Pakatan Rakyat were about of equal strength as they gathered in an open field ringed by the red artificial track. They numbered about 500 in each contingent.
Within 10 minutes, however, a roar went up as about 3,000 flag carrying BN supporters trooped up the hill from the Sarawak Electricity Board side of the sport complex to join their 500-odd compatriots on the field.
Meanwhile, the PKR-dominated Pakatan crowd had approached the complex from the opposite side – Kampong Rambai, an Iban concentration in this electorate of 8,129 voters where 93 percent are Iban.
In the forefront of the late-arriving BN reinforcements was Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud, sporting a beige beret and in light-colored attire that showed prescience about what would be comfortable in weather that was turning from refreshingly cool in the earlier part of the morning to sultry.
The PKR-led contingent appeared to have a large number of supporters, bigger than the ones ranged on the field, coming in from the Sungai Rambai side in cavalier fashion, as if they were there just to see for themselves the unfolding events rather than being part of an organised show of strength.
The Pakatan crowd had a higher mixture of races as Iban mingled with Chinese, Malays and a sprinkling of Indians, likely doctors and other professionals working in this region of Sarawak.
DAP flags were prominent among a sea of PKR tricolor - blue, white and red. The white and green of PAS provided diverting variety, somewhat reflective of the ethnic, not to mention ideological, diversity collected behind the Pakatan political banner.
The dominant motif of the BN crowd, besides the blue dacing symbol emblazoned on their flags, was their superior strength, not so much racial diversity.
Pakatan breaks through racial divide
Douglas Alau, a former Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) leader, has this to say of the supporters who had gathered today: “In recent elections, the crowds for the opposition on Nomination Day were small. Not like this.”
He recalled hard-fought elections in 1987 and 1991 where he said there were crowds of comparable size, with one important difference between the those two years.
“In 1987, there were more multiracial candidates for the opposition that was then assembled under the Maju group. In 1991, the crowd for the opposition was entirely Dayak,” said Alau, who lost on the PBDS ticket in both years.
“This year the crowd for the opposition is even better than in 1987 because it is more multiracial,” he commented.
In 1987, the opposition in Sarawak obtained the support of the Dayak voters and a good portion of the Malay vote, but not the Chinese who stuck by the Sarawak United People’s Party (Supp).
“This time Pakatan appears to have broken through the racial divide, judging from this crowd,” said Alau as he surveyed the scene.
Malaysiakini
29/03/09
Until returning officer Nelson Munjah announced on the public address system the opening of the nomination process at 9am, flag-waving supporters of both the Barisan Nasional and the Pakatan Rakyat were about of equal strength as they gathered in an open field ringed by the red artificial track. They numbered about 500 in each contingent.
Within 10 minutes, however, a roar went up as about 3,000 flag carrying BN supporters trooped up the hill from the Sarawak Electricity Board side of the sport complex to join their 500-odd compatriots on the field.
Meanwhile, the PKR-dominated Pakatan crowd had approached the complex from the opposite side – Kampong Rambai, an Iban concentration in this electorate of 8,129 voters where 93 percent are Iban.
In the forefront of the late-arriving BN reinforcements was Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud, sporting a beige beret and in light-colored attire that showed prescience about what would be comfortable in weather that was turning from refreshingly cool in the earlier part of the morning to sultry.
The PKR-led contingent appeared to have a large number of supporters, bigger than the ones ranged on the field, coming in from the Sungai Rambai side in cavalier fashion, as if they were there just to see for themselves the unfolding events rather than being part of an organised show of strength.
The Pakatan crowd had a higher mixture of races as Iban mingled with Chinese, Malays and a sprinkling of Indians, likely doctors and other professionals working in this region of Sarawak.
DAP flags were prominent among a sea of PKR tricolor - blue, white and red. The white and green of PAS provided diverting variety, somewhat reflective of the ethnic, not to mention ideological, diversity collected behind the Pakatan political banner.
The dominant motif of the BN crowd, besides the blue dacing symbol emblazoned on their flags, was their superior strength, not so much racial diversity.
Pakatan breaks through racial divide
Douglas Alau, a former Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) leader, has this to say of the supporters who had gathered today: “In recent elections, the crowds for the opposition on Nomination Day were small. Not like this.”
He recalled hard-fought elections in 1987 and 1991 where he said there were crowds of comparable size, with one important difference between the those two years.
“In 1987, there were more multiracial candidates for the opposition that was then assembled under the Maju group. In 1991, the crowd for the opposition was entirely Dayak,” said Alau, who lost on the PBDS ticket in both years.
“This year the crowd for the opposition is even better than in 1987 because it is more multiracial,” he commented.
In 1987, the opposition in Sarawak obtained the support of the Dayak voters and a good portion of the Malay vote, but not the Chinese who stuck by the Sarawak United People’s Party (Supp).
“This time Pakatan appears to have broken through the racial divide, judging from this crowd,” said Alau as he surveyed the scene.
Malaysiakini
29/03/09
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