Now that the dust has settled, and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is Malaysia’s 10th prime minister, Pakatan Harapan (PH) must realise that it needs rural voters more than they need the coalition.
Every election, Malaysians hear or read the same thing: “East Malaysians, and those on the East Coast, are ‘silly’ for supporting Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) and Barisan Nasional (BN). Why don’t they vote for a change and side with PH?”
What many don’t realise is that for the older East Malaysians, BN is all they know.
GPS is the dominant coalition in Sarawak, while BN ruled the country for nearly five decades before losing to PH in 2018. The ruling Sarawak coalition usually aligns itself with BN.
In the 15th General Election in Malaysia, Sabah saw 25 parliamentary seats up for grabs, while Sarawak had 31. That adds up to 56 parliamentary seats in East Malaysia.
In the East Coast, Kelantan saw 14 parliamentary seats contested, and Terengganu had eight. That adds up to 22 parliamentary seats.
The number of seats from Sabah, Sarawak, Kelantan, and Terengganu equals 78, or 35.13 per cent of Malaysia’s 222 parliamentary seats.
Can Pakatan Harapan afford to give up on them?
Locals in Bau, a village located some 35km from the Sarawak capital of Kuching, can count on one hand the number of times they have met politicians from Pakatan Harapan over the past decade.
Politicians from BN, however, are a common sight.
It is only in the last couple of years that banners from DAP appeared, wishing the people Merry Christmas, Selamat Hari Gawai, and other festivities. Such messages from BN-aligned parties are a common sight.
When Twentytwo13 spoke to Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen, who is from DAP on Oct 30, he admitted that his party did not have enough resources to visit the villages.
DAP is a party under the PH coalition.
So, how can PH or DAP convince the ‘orang kampung’ (villagers) to vote for them when they don’t even visit them?
These folks do not have good internet access and only watch pro-government stations such as RTM and TV3. And their printed reading materials are often filled with government propaganda.
Most of them remain hard-core BN supporters, although times are slowly changing due to the influence of youngsters who work in Peninsular Malaysia.
In the last two general elections, Mordi Bimol of DAP won the Mas Gading parliamentary seat, of which Bau is part of the constituency.
Part of the reason is that the children of these villagers have convinced the older folks that there are alternatives to BN.
If PH is serious in making inroads, it must do its part to educate the voters and keep its supporters well-informed.
There is no point in having mega programmes in Penang, Kuala Lumpur, and Selangor. That is akin to preaching to the choir.
If the coalition wants to expand its support base, it should look beyond the West Coast and focus on areas across the South China Sea.
