A system that discriminates 

May 8, 2016, Sunday   Uncle Di

BY now registered voters in Sarawak have cast their ballots to choose the next group of the state’s legislators while some 400,000 plus other fair dinkum locals of voting age (21 years above) did not. Why? Because they are not registered voters. They couldn’t have done so under the present system of voting.

Hopefully, the disenfranchised people will start registering as voters to enable them to vote at the next parliamentary election. Otherwise, they will again miss the chance to participate in a democratic exercise which is more representative of the voting strength and truly reflective of the will of the adult suffrage in Sarawak.

Unless and until, in the meantime, there will be introduced in Parliament legislation to make voting compulsory, those Sarawakians and those in the other states remain voiceless through the ballot box.

As at the 10th of last month, there were under 1.14 million voters on the rolls in the state. From this, 25,022 voters are from the armed forces and the police; of these some, but not all, are Sarawakians and their spouses.
In the polls just concluded, 418 of these voters registered in Bukit Kota and Bukit Sari constituencies were happy that they did not have to go down to the polling stations. The candidates in these two constituencies were returned unopposed.

Every day, each Sarawakian who celebrates his or her 21st birthday is a potential voter, but any who choose not to register as voters will add to the growing number of citizens who are being disenfranchised by design. Not even design, inertia as a rule, ‘can’t be bothered to register’. If you could register by tapping a handphone they probably would … The system needs reform but the people in positions of power have not really addressed this institutionalised discrimination. Prove me wrong.

To the winners, felicitations; to the losers, try again
The results of yesterday’s polls speak for themselves. As nowadays everybody is a political analyst, I shall leave the post-mortems of the results to the experts, including those working for Pemandu. They will look at all the factors that might have contributed to winning or losing before they can conclude whether or not the election was free and fair, and whether money politics played an important part in winning or losing, ban on entry to Sarawak of opposition lawmakers from Peninsular Malaysia, the Adenan factor, perimeter survey initiative, impact of GST, of BR1M, of 1MDB’s woes. Let’s see if any issue or a combination of issues have had any bearing or contribution in the outcome of the election.

In defeat, defiant; in victory, magnanimous.  Just this one comment from me: politics, like sport where competition is the main drive and victory is the ultimate prize, is a kind of game. There are winners and losers in any contest – the winners experiencing the ecstasy of victory and the losers, the agony of defeat. But like in golfing or boxing, there is always another round on another day. To the losers, I’d say, there is no such thing as the end of the world. Winston Churchill once said, “In defeat defiant.” Treat every defeat as a battle lost to be fought another time.

I wish to congratulate those who have won the elections in their respective constituencies and also those who have been picked as members of the new state cabinet. In victory, you should “be magnanimous” as Churchill also said.

Like many other Sarawakians, I’m looking forward to seeing fulfilment of the election pledges, especially from those who are walking in the corridors of power.

For instance, construction of a bridge across the mile-wide Batang Lupar, or the Long Lama bridge: it will be a long bridge and it will take lama to build! Our Lundu-Biawak road took 50 years to complete!

Rule of law
All governments are faced with problems, some of which are difficult to solve, others not so serious. In the course of the next few years or so, the government may encounter all sorts of problems. But it is precisely the job of the government of the day to handle them with wisdom. They can do so if all the key institutions of government are running smoothly – the lawmakers to introduce sensible legislation, the judges to interpret and apply them, the law enforcers to carry out decisions without fear or favour.   More importantly, the people must be law abiding.

One fundamental ingredient of good governance boils down to strict observance of the rule of law. A good government is one that is fair and equitable and observes the very law it makes. A government that does not observe that rule will be faced with all sorts of problems, hampering good governance.

All legislators – those who form the government and those from the opposition – are expected to deliver the goods not only by serving the interests and needs of their respective constituents but also of those other Sarawakians.   Do not discriminate against those who did not vote for you. If you treat them well, they may vote for you come the next election. Have you thought of that?

We have seen how the old legislators performed in the assembly in the past and we expect the new ones to do well, if not better. It is said a new broom sweeps well.

All YBs are expected to do justice to the time they will be there; the opposing YBs should not oppose the policies and legislation introduced by the government for the sake of opposing. They should behave like members of an alternative government; in fact they are, in a parliamentary model of government which we have copied from Westminster.

Before the next election
Because of the large number of people in Sarawak without the chance to vote, I wish to urge those Sarawakians who are eligible for registration as voters to get themselves registered as voters as soon as possible and as many as of them as possible before the next parliamentary election.

In Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah there will be simultaneous elections – state and federal;  Sarawak will only hold the federal election.
As I see it, the 14th general election is crucial for Malaysia in the sense that we in Sarawak have no choice but to stay put in Malaysia. Out of Malaysia is not an option; it may be a case of out of the frying pan into the fire.

Supposing we choose to stay put, what can we do to improve things? Send the best MPs to KL and if there is a new government in Putrajaya, pray that quality leaders will be included in the federal cabinet and in other positions of power and authority.

So much power is now in the hands of the federal government dominated by a certain party. For instance, the power over education and scholarships, local government elections, over the cabotage policy, to name a few issues. For a longer list of the state’s legislative powers – including those of concurrent powers – see the Inter-Governmental Committee Report, 1962.

These are the main subjects around which some serious issues have not been successfully solved since 1963. Potential MPs from Sarawak may like to have a look at them before offering themselves as candidates in the coming parliamentary election.

Comments can reach the writer via columnists@theborneopost.com.