KUCHING, Nov 10 — Sarawak PKR information chief Abun Sui Anyit is appealing to Sarawakians to come out and vote this coming 12th state election.
He said this is to prevent Sarawak from being ruled by the ‘minority’ as a low voter turnout could result in the state being ruled by a party or coalition which does have the support of the majority of Sarawakians.
“The 30 per cent voter turnout can happen but for this Sarawak election, the turnout may be about 50 per cent,” he said when asked for comments on DAP lawmaker Lim Kit Siang’s prediction that voters who turn up to cast their ballots in the Sarawak state election may be less than 30 per cent.
He said should Sarawak experience a low voter turnout, this could be due to unfair standard operating procedures (SOPs) by the government or Election Commission (EC).
“The other reasons could be that the voters wanted to avoid being in close contact with other people in view that we are still in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.
Abun said nevertheless, all parties involved in the coming state election must do their part to make sure that there will not be a low voter turnout.
“I also agree with the proposal that the EC should fix Jan 2, 2022 as the polling date for Sarawak so that Undi18 voters can exercise their right to vote,” he added.
Meanwhile, Sarawak People’s Aspiration Party (Aspirasi) president Lina Soo also believed that the turnout of voters in the impending state polls will be low with an estimated turnout of 50 per cent.
“The elderly will not turn up to vote and many outside of Sarawak will not be coming home to vote due to the prohibitive SOPs,” she said.
She also said that many voters will also refuse to vote because of political fatigue.
“They are fed up because both Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) and Pakatan Harapan (PH) have failed them.
“This politics of revolving doors and musical chairs in their lust for power has disillusioned the voters and they now fail to see any meaning in the electoral process,” she said.
Soo said while the Covid-19 pandemic has shattered many lives, it appeared that the politicians have also lost touch with the people because they no longer serve the people but their own interest.
“It will be a hollow victory for GPS if they win because voters will not be fully engaged in the election. With all the restrictions (set for the election) it will be an easy walkover for them,” she said. — Borneo Post
