KUCHING: The Barisan Nasional (BN) is worried – for good reason. Suddenly things are not going its way and it now appears its target of getting a two-thirds majority is slipping away.
Sarawak BN is fast losing ground not only in the 15 Chinese-majority seats but also in Malay-Dayak-majority seats.
What is disturbing for the BN is that these constituencies are not only in the urban areas but also in the rural interior where they are supposed to be BN’s strongholds.
On the first day of campaigning on Wednesday, the DAP seemed to have a hold on only eight seats but as of yesterday, 13 of the 15 Chinese-majority seats are showing signs of drifting to the DAP camp.
In short, DAP is fast moving ahead of the pack while BN is seeing its grip on the Chinese seats loosening.
PAS, which is trying to land a seat, is said to have found one in the rural area – Beting Maro. And observers are giving the Islamist party another seat.
PKR which is contesting 49 seats is said to have made headway in at least three seats.
The news making the round in local circles is that the Pakatan Rakyat partners – DAP, PAS and PKR – will eventually end up with 18 seats – which is quite an impressive performance given the odds staked against them.
Surge of support
Observers believe the reason for this surge of support for Pakatan is that the opposition went at
Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud hammer and tongs. It is all about Taib and his obscene wealth –and that is the soft underbelly of the BN.
But both the state BN and federal leaders have refused to acknowledge that the Taib factor is working to BN disadvantage.
The picture is looking increasingly bleak for the state BN as its influence is fading by the day in this intriguing political battle.
At the start of the combat, there were hardly any opposition posters in the predominantly urban Malay and Dayak areas. But now these posters and banners have sprout up all over the place and they contain a loud message: the voters are not happy with the state BN policies ranging from quit rents to lack of job opportunities and poor business prospects.
The state BN seems to have been pushed to a defensive position, and any army general would tell you that is bad.
The best strategy is attack, which is what the opposition has been doing: it is concentrating its relentless onslaught on Taib, and meeting no effective counter-attack from the BN.
Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has assured that Taib would step down after the election but local leaders have taken it “with a pinch of salt”.
At first, the strong anti-Taib sentiment was mainly confined among the Chinese but now it has taken roots in the hearts and minds of the Malays and Dayaks as well.
Wild fire
The resentment against the “white rajah” is spreading like wild fire among the Malays and Dayaks who were once thought to be BN loyal supporters.
These voters are receptive to the opposition campaigns, flyers and ceramah that featured Taib’s overseas wealth.
Translated into statistics, local observers predict that support for BN is slightly above 60% and the figure is sliding down.
A “small tsunami” is building up with the predicted loss of 18 seats or more, but as the campaign enters the last lap, it may well exceed the number and BN may find itself short of a two-thirds majority.
It is time for the BN to start moving fast to cover lost ground because polling is only three days away.
The gnawing fear is that a bad outing in Sarawak may be harbinger of a worse fate that awaits BN in the mother of all battles – the 13th general election.
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