Sibu by-election, 2010
Encyclopedia
The Sibu by-election, 2010 was a by-election
for the seat of Sibu
in the Parliament of Malaysia
. The Sarawak
-based seat fell vacant after the death of its incumbent member, Robert Lau Hoi Chew
, from liver cancer
on 9 April 2010. The seat was defended for the Barisan Nasional
coalition government by Robert Lau Hui Yew of the Sarawak United Peoples' Party (SUPP), while Sarawak State Assemblyman Wong Ho Leng
contested the poll for the Democratic Action Party
(DAP) in the Pakatan Rakyat
opposition coalition. Wong won the election by 398 votes, wresting the seat from the Barisan Nasional.
At the time of the election there were 54,695 registered voters, a majority of whom were ethnic Chinese
. In the previous general election
in 2008, the incumbent, Hoi Chew retained the seat with a 3,235-vote majority against Wong Ho Leng, and Lim Chin Chuang of the People's Justice Party
. The Sibu seat had been last won by the DAP in 1982, but had since been won continuously by the SUPP.
In this election, known as the "Battle of the Mighty Rejang", the government and opposition went head-to-head on a number of local issues concerning Sarawak, including poverty, education and development.
when Ling Sie Ming defeated Wong Soon Kai by 141 votes, causing Sibu to become the first DAP-held parliamentary seat in Sarawak. The DAP lost the seat in the 1986 election
to the Barisan Nasional
, and in the 1990 election
, the SUPP won the seat through Robert Lau Hoi Chew. Lau held the seat until his death from liver cancer
on 9 April 2010. His winning margin in the 2008 election
had been 3,235 votes.
Despite Lau's dominance of the federal seat from 1990, the SUPP were shocked in the 1996 state election
when two of its State Assembly seats within Sibu town — Pelawan and Bukit Assek — fell to the DAP. The Bukit Assek loss saw the defeat of its president and the Deputy Chief Minister of Sarawak, Wong Soon Kai. The defeat spelled the end of Wong's political career and the election of the DAP's Wong Ho Leng
to the Sarawak State Assembly. Wong Ho Leng subsequently lost the Bukit Assek seat in the 2001 state election
, but regained it in 2006
.
At the time of the by-election, 66.7% of the seat's 54,695 registered voters were ethnic Chinese; the rest of the population being Malays or indigenous Sarawakians. Christians make up 53 per cent of the electorate while the rest include Muslims, Buddhists and other religions. The seat was largely urban.
coalition. Hui Yew was the second cousin of Hoi Chew and the son of Lau Swee Nguong, chairman of the KTS Group of companies. On 14 April, the opposition has decided that a DAP
candidate should contest the by-election. Opposition Leader and People's Justice Party
(PKR) adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim
scheduled a visit to Sibu on 18 April. On the same day, Sarawak Pakatan Rakyat was formed as an opposition coalition composed of the DAP
, PKR
, and the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) — all members of the national Pakatan Rakyat coalition — and the local Sarawak National Party
. The Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin
visited Sibu on 19 April, expressing confidence that the voters were leaning towards supporting Barisan Nasional.
While SUPP's candidate was confirmed only a few days after Hoi Chew's death, the DAP delayed announcing its candidate until 27 April. SUPP alleged the delay was due to a split in the DAP; however, the DAP insisted the delay was a calculated political strategy. On 27 April, the Sarawak Pakatan Rakyat announced Wong Ho Leng
, state chairman of the DAP and State Assemblyman for Bukit Assek, as its candidate. Wong had earlier indicated his reluctance to stand in the by-election, suggesting that the party consider the opportunity to field a younger candidate.
Robert Lau Hui Yew and Wong Ho Leng were joined by an independent candidate, Narawi Haron. A businessman and former member of the Army, Narawi had been a candidate for the seat in the 1995 election
. Narawi's campaign was dismissed by the SUPP as inconsequential, while the DAP admitted that a potential split of votes between the DAP and Narawi could hurt its chances.
" and was seen as a litmus test for the popularity of the opposition Pakatan Rakyat
and governing Barisan Nasional coalitions on a including land rights, poverty, native displacement and unemployment in Sarawak
.
One of the main issues during the election was the ban of the use of the word 'Allah' in Christian publications
. However, the Sarawak police has banned political parties from using the issue during campaigning in the by-election as it was deemed to be a sensitive issue. Sarawak's Officer in Charge of Criminal Investigations, Huzir Mohamed, threatened to prosecute offenders of the ban under the Sedition Act
or the Internal Security Act
(ISA).
did not initially release a policy manifesto for the by-election, but sought support on the basis of its claim to have caused Sibu's economic growth and development. Nevertheless, late in the campaign, the BN-SUPP candidate, Robert Lau Hui Yew, himself released a manifesto in which, according to Bernama
, he mentioned that he would prioritise "getting more investment, job creation, skills training for single parents to increase their income, install more CCTVs in town to improve security and reduce street crimes rates as well as to transform Sibu into a 'wireless' township."
During the campaign period, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had distributed RM
18 million to 60 Chinese aided primary schools, five independent Chinese secondary schools and two missionary schools in Sibu. Najib said that the Barisan Nasional government would continue to do more for Chinese education in the country, saying that "the Barisan government is a true friend of Chinese education," when addressing more than 3,000 Chinese educationists. Besides that, some 246 families living in an under-developed region in Sungai Igan within the constituency had received a total of RM147,600 as a one-off allocation from the Federal Government. Four Methodist churches in town had been given special grants totalling RM1.75 million from the BN federal government in the final hours of the by-election campaign.
The SUPP attacked the DAP on the basis of its coalition with the Islamist PAS, arguing that “A vote for Rocket is a vote for Islamic State". Lim Kit Siang, the parliamentary leader of the DAP, said that the issue was a “killer weapon” which could “finish off” the chances of DAP's candidate winning by frightening off the Chinese and non-Muslim voters in Sibu as it did during the 1999 Malaysian General Election
where both Karpal Singh
and Lim himself lost their parliamentary seats. The SUPP also claimed that if the DAP was to be voted in kampua noodles could no longer be sold as they were mixed with pork lard; a reference to PAS's policy to establish Malaysia as an Islamic state.
Abdul Taib Mahmud
, the BN chief minister of Sarawak, revised new land renewal rates which took effect on June 1. He said that the Sarawak new land rates is the cheapest in Malaysia as compared to other states. In accordance with opposition proposal for the unconditioned, automatic renewal of land leases, he also challenged the opposition-led state governments to announce new land rates lower than the current one announced by himself, without risking the income of the state governments.
Najib Tun Razak
, the Prime Minister
and leader of BN, promised voters in Rejang Park, a DAP stronghold, 5 million ringgit to alleviate floods if SUPP’s Robert Lau Hui Yew won the seat, stating at an election appearance: "Do we have a deal or not? We do! You want the RM5 million, I want Robert Lau to win.”
The DAP also focused on landholding issues. Chong Chieng Jen
, the director of the DAP's by-election campaign, pointed out that those who decided not to renew their 60 year land leases would have their land returned to the government without compensation, and that even if the government approved requests to have leases renewed, landholders would have to pay large premiums. Chong said that the DAP on the other hand wanted the current state land code to be amended to allow for the automatic and unconditional renewal of all leased land for a period of 99 years.
On the ban of using the "Allah" issue
during campaigns, the DAP had gone against it and had gone ahead with the issue in its campaign. Wong Ho Leng, the DAP election candidate, said that the facts must be made known to the public. Wong also promised that if elected, he would call upon the Prime Minister and Home Minister to immediately cease the legal dispute with the Christian churches over these matters to protect the freedom of religion in Malaysia for non-Muslims. The DAP has also challenge candidate Robert Lau to make his stand about the ban on non-Muslims using the word “Allah” with DAP MP Teresa Kok
stating that "If Robert Lau intends to be a Member of Parliament that speaks up for a Christian-majority constituency, Sibu, then he has the moral duty to declare his stand on this thorny issue, so that the voters in Sibu can decide whether they can count on him to speak up on this issue," Another issue that was brought up during the by-election was the decision of the Home Ministry to destroy the 5,000 copies of Indonesian Bibles confiscated.
On SUPP's questioning DAP’s association with PAS despite having different ideology, the DAP defended itself by stating that PAS has been steadfast in the rights to freedom of religion of non-Muslims and this can be seen through PAS being able to declare that there is absolutely nothing in the Quran which forbids the use of the term "Allah" in Christian publications.
The DAP sought to pressure Robert Lau Hui Yew over the government's proposed Goods and Services Tax
, arguing that the tax would increase prices for consumers in one of Malaysia's poorest states. The DAP, through its leader Lim Kit Siang also pressured Hui Yew to speak up against the government's education policy, claiming that Hui Yew's choice to have his children educated overseas demonstrated his lack of confidence in Malaysian education. On education, the DAP also criticised SUPP's involvement in the sale of the Laila Taib College, previously known as United College Sarawak, to the Yayasan Sarawak (Sarawak Foundation) for the price of one ringgit
, when the local Chinese population had donated money to fund the college's building.
due to be held in Sarawak in 2011. The victorious Wong claimed his election was a "miracle". 37,919 out of 54,695 registered voters cast a ballot, signifying a 70% turnout. There were 395 spoilt votes.
election agents. Of the 2,827 ballot papers issued for postal votes, BN won 2,323 votes (82.2%), DAP won 70 (2.4%), the independent won 36 (1.2%) while 208 (7.3%) were considered spoilt.
Pahang PKR secretariat director Zaidi Ahmad, who was appointed by the party as the team leader in charge of monitoring the postal votes during the polls, mentioned that the DAP would not have won if the 208 postal votes were not declared spoilt and the 170 ballot papers for what he claimed were “phantom postal voters” were returned and added to the tally.
Zaidi had claimed that the forms state the names, identification numbers and information about the voters and are supposed to be signed by the voters themselves as well as their witnesses. However, the election agents noticed that the same witness would sign differently on different forms. On some forms, the voters themselves did not even sign them. Zaidi concluded by saying that it meant that others had signed on their behalf. He added that only after persistent complaints from the PR’s election agents, Election Commission officials agreed to consider 208 ballot papers from the postal votes as spoilt votes. He also said that they have found at least between 700 and 800 more postal votes that had discrepancies but the EC disallowed these from being considered as spoilt. Zaidi finally claimed that if the by-election had truly been run properly, DAP could have won with a much bigger majority as if at least 700 more postal votes were rejected as spoilt, DAP could have won the polls with a majority of a little over 1,000.
As a result, the Election Commission would review the postal voting system where EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said they would study the proposal to call for an early voting session for army personnel, policemen and EC staff instead of posting votes. Nevertheless, the Youth wing of the PAS have demanded for the postal votes to be abolished altogether as it claims that the postal votes are no longer relevant and is prone to abuse and exploitation by the government to their benefit.
of the Malaysian Chinese Association
, a member of the BN, said that the government could no longer hide from the fact that there were issues plaguing the Chinese community and that it can no longer be swept under the carpet following the losing of Chinese-majority polling centres in the by-election.
Lim Kit Siang of the DAP mentioned that the party's win in Sibu renews Pakatan Rakyat
's Putrajaya
dream, referring to PR's ambition to form the Federal government in the next 13th general election. However, political scientists mentioned that PR would have a tough time getting support from rural areas, referring to the DAP's dismal performance in rural polling centres. Nevertheless, encouraged by the strong support from the urban Chinese community in the Sibu by-election, DAP is now aiming to win the four other Chinese-majority parliamentary seats (namely the Sarikei, Miri, Stampin and Lanang seats) and seven other State constituencies held by SUPP in Sarawak.
Abdul Taib Mahmud
, the BN Chief Minister of Sarawak, said that the BN lost mainly due to the influx of PR campaigners from Peninsular Malaysia. Abang Johari Openg, Sarawak state Minister for Housing and Urban Development, blamed the "provocative tactics" allegedly employed by Pakatan Rakyat leaders for causing the defeat of the SUPP candidate, referring to the raising of the ‘Allah’ issue. President of Parti Rakyat Sarawak
(a component party of BN in Sarawak) and state Minister of Land Development James Masing had warned Peninsular Malaysia-based opposition parties to refrain from practising "rowdy" politics in Sarawak saying that it might break down social order in the country, citing the May 13 incident
where a racial riot occurred when BN lost its two-third supermajority
in parliament during the Malaysian general election, 1969
.
As for the SUPP, its president George Chan Hong Nam
who congratulated its winning candidate Wong immediately after the election result was announced, said that his party was completely overwhelmed by DAP's streetfighter style of politics and said, "these outsiders with their street culture have come to spoil the good nature of Sarawakians," and that "SUPP would do all it could to ensure that the "outsiders" do not gain a foothold here". Wong Soon Koh, the SUPP state assemblyman for the Bawang Assan state seat within Sibu and a minister in the Sarawak state cabinet, claimed that the DAP was now extremely rich and could fly over campaigners from Peninsula Malaysia to Sibu for the by-election. Soon Koh's remarks came under fire by Chong Chieng Jen
of the DAP where he defended the party by saying that nearly all DAP campaigners including Members of Parliament, state assemblymen or ordinary members, took care of their own expenses and stayed either with party members in Sibu or in low-budget hotels to save expenses. Chong also said that unlike BN leaders, they do not fly first class, nor stay at five-star hotels which are paid for by the federal or state government under the pretext of carrying out their government duties while on the other hand obviously campaigning for the SUPP candidate.
Ibrahim Ali
, the president of Malay rights group Perkasa
labelled the Chinese in Sibu as ungrateful for not voting for the BN. He claimed that the Chinese in Sibu had not appreciated the development projects and financial allocations offered by BN while the Bumiputera had to endure and compromise with the wish of Chinese community. His statement came under fire by locals, including the Bumiputera community, as he was dubbed 'ignorant' on the current issues in Sibu.
Nevertheless, the losing candidate, Lau Hui Yew, pledged that he will continue to serve the people as a councilor of Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) and as a party leader. On the other hand, Muhyiddin Yassin
, the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia
and BN's campaign director in Sibu, said that the BN will keep all promises and commitments made during the by-election even though the party lost the by-election.
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
for the seat of Sibu
Sibu
Sibu may refer to:*Sibu, Sarawak in Eastern Malaysia*Sibu Division*Sibu , an impact crater on Mars*Pulau Sibu, an island off the eastern coast of peninsular Malaysia*Sibu , name of a goddess in the Bribri tribe, in Costa Rica...
in the Parliament of Malaysia
Parliament of Malaysia
The Parliament of Malaysia is the national legislature of Malaysia, based on the Westminster system. The bicameral parliament consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The King as the Head of State is the third component of Parliament....
. The Sarawak
Sarawak
Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Known as Bumi Kenyalang , Sarawak is situated on the north-west of the island. It is the largest state in Malaysia followed by Sabah, the second largest state located to the North- East.The administrative capital is Kuching, which...
-based seat fell vacant after the death of its incumbent member, Robert Lau Hoi Chew
Robert Lau Hoi Chew
Datuk Robert Lau Hoi Chew was a Malaysian politician. He represented Sibu in the Parliament of Malaysia from 1990 until his death in 2010, and served as Deputy Minister for Transport from April 2009 until his death...
, from liver cancer
Liver cancer
Liver tumors or hepatic tumors are tumors or growths on or in the liver . Several distinct types of tumors can develop in the liver because the liver is made up of various cell types. These growths can be benign or malignant...
on 9 April 2010. The seat was defended for the Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...
coalition government by Robert Lau Hui Yew of the Sarawak United Peoples' Party (SUPP), while Sarawak State Assemblyman Wong Ho Leng
Wong Ho Leng
Wong Ho Leng is a Malaysian politician. He is currently the Member of Parliament of Sibu and Member of the State Legislative Assembly of Sarawak for the seat of Bukit Assek and is the opposition leader of the assembly, being the state chairman of the Democratic Action Party in the Pakatan Rakyat...
contested the poll for the Democratic Action Party
Democratic Action Party
The Democratic Action Party, or DAP is a secular, multi-racial, social democratic Malaysian political party.The DAP is one of the three major opposition parties in Malaysia, along with the PKR and PAS, that are seen as electable alternatives to the Barisan Nasional coalition of parties...
(DAP) in the Pakatan Rakyat
Pakatan Rakyat
Pakatan Rakyat or PR is an informal Malaysian political coalition. It currently controls four state governments while in opposition to the ruling Barisan Nasional at the federal level....
opposition coalition. Wong won the election by 398 votes, wresting the seat from the Barisan Nasional.
At the time of the election there were 54,695 registered voters, a majority of whom were ethnic Chinese
Malaysian Chinese
Malaysian Chinese is a Malaysian of Chinese origin. Most are descendants of Chinese who arrived between the fifteenth and the mid-twentieth centuries. Within Malaysia, they are usually simply referred to as "Chinese" in all languages. The term Chinese Malaysian is also sometimes used to refer to...
. In the previous general election
Malaysian general election, 2008
The 12th Malaysian general election was held on March 8, 2008, in accordance with Malaysian laws for national elections, which states that a general election must be held no later than five years subsequent to the previous elections; the previous general election was held in 2004...
in 2008, the incumbent, Hoi Chew retained the seat with a 3,235-vote majority against Wong Ho Leng, and Lim Chin Chuang of the People's Justice Party
Parti Keadilan Rakyat
The People's Justice Party , often known simply as KeADILan) is a centrist political party in Malaysia formed in 2003 by a merger of the National Justice Party and the older Malaysian People's Party...
. The Sibu seat had been last won by the DAP in 1982, but had since been won continuously by the SUPP.
In this election, known as the "Battle of the Mighty Rejang", the government and opposition went head-to-head on a number of local issues concerning Sarawak, including poverty, education and development.
Background and history
The Sibu constituency has been dominated by the contest between the SUPP and the DAP for approximately three decades. The DAP won the seat in the 1982 general electionMalaysian general election, 1982
General elections were held in Malaysia on 22 April 1982. The result was a victory for Barisan Nasional, which won 132 of the 145 seats. Voter turnout was 74.4%.-Results:...
when Ling Sie Ming defeated Wong Soon Kai by 141 votes, causing Sibu to become the first DAP-held parliamentary seat in Sarawak. The DAP lost the seat in the 1986 election
Malaysian general election, 1986
General elections were held in Malaysia on 3 August 1986. The result was a victory for Barisan Nasional, which won 148 of the 177 seats. Voter turnout was 68.1%.-Results:...
to the Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...
, and in the 1990 election
Malaysian general election, 1990
General elections were held in Malaysia on 21 October 1990. The result was a victory for the UMNO-led Barisan Nasional, which won 127 of the 180 seats...
, the SUPP won the seat through Robert Lau Hoi Chew. Lau held the seat until his death from liver cancer
Liver cancer
Liver tumors or hepatic tumors are tumors or growths on or in the liver . Several distinct types of tumors can develop in the liver because the liver is made up of various cell types. These growths can be benign or malignant...
on 9 April 2010. His winning margin in the 2008 election
Malaysian general election, 2008
The 12th Malaysian general election was held on March 8, 2008, in accordance with Malaysian laws for national elections, which states that a general election must be held no later than five years subsequent to the previous elections; the previous general election was held in 2004...
had been 3,235 votes.
Despite Lau's dominance of the federal seat from 1990, the SUPP were shocked in the 1996 state election
Sarawak state election, 1996
The seventh Sarawak state election was conducted from 7 to 8 of September with nomination date on 27 August 1996. The Sarawak State Assembly was dissolved on 15 August 1996 before its expiration on 28 November 1996. There were 62 seats available but only 43 were contested on the election day...
when two of its State Assembly seats within Sibu town — Pelawan and Bukit Assek — fell to the DAP. The Bukit Assek loss saw the defeat of its president and the Deputy Chief Minister of Sarawak, Wong Soon Kai. The defeat spelled the end of Wong's political career and the election of the DAP's Wong Ho Leng
Wong Ho Leng
Wong Ho Leng is a Malaysian politician. He is currently the Member of Parliament of Sibu and Member of the State Legislative Assembly of Sarawak for the seat of Bukit Assek and is the opposition leader of the assembly, being the state chairman of the Democratic Action Party in the Pakatan Rakyat...
to the Sarawak State Assembly. Wong Ho Leng subsequently lost the Bukit Assek seat in the 2001 state election
Sarawak state election, 2001
The Eighth Sarawak state election was held on 27 September 2001 with nomination date on 18 September 2001. The state assembly was supposed to be expired on 18 November 2001 but it was dissolved by the governor of Sarawak 2 months earlier on 3 September 2001....
, but regained it in 2006
Sarawak state election, 2006
The ninth Sarawak state election was held on May 20, 2006 with nomination day on May 9. The election functioned to elect 71 representatives to the Sarawak State Assembly...
.
At the time of the by-election, 66.7% of the seat's 54,695 registered voters were ethnic Chinese; the rest of the population being Malays or indigenous Sarawakians. Christians make up 53 per cent of the electorate while the rest include Muslims, Buddhists and other religions. The seat was largely urban.
Nomination of candidates
The by-election was triggered by the death of Sibu's incumbent Member of Parliament, Robert Lau Hoi Chew on 9 April 2010. The Election Commission subsequently set down the by-election for 16 May 2010, with candidate nominations to occur on 8 May. Within a few days, the Sibu branch of SUPP recommended Robert Lau Hui Yew to contest the by-election for the governing Barisan NasionalBarisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...
coalition. Hui Yew was the second cousin of Hoi Chew and the son of Lau Swee Nguong, chairman of the KTS Group of companies. On 14 April, the opposition has decided that a DAP
Democratic Action Party
The Democratic Action Party, or DAP is a secular, multi-racial, social democratic Malaysian political party.The DAP is one of the three major opposition parties in Malaysia, along with the PKR and PAS, that are seen as electable alternatives to the Barisan Nasional coalition of parties...
candidate should contest the by-election. Opposition Leader and People's Justice Party
Parti Keadilan Rakyat
The People's Justice Party , often known simply as KeADILan) is a centrist political party in Malaysia formed in 2003 by a merger of the National Justice Party and the older Malaysian People's Party...
(PKR) adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim
Anwar Ibrahim
Anwar bin Ibrahim is a Malaysian politician who served as Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister from 1993 to 1998. Early in his career, Anwar was a close ally of Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad but subsequently emerged as the most prominent critic of Mahathir's government.In 1999, he was sentenced...
scheduled a visit to Sibu on 18 April. On the same day, Sarawak Pakatan Rakyat was formed as an opposition coalition composed of the DAP
Democratic Action Party
The Democratic Action Party, or DAP is a secular, multi-racial, social democratic Malaysian political party.The DAP is one of the three major opposition parties in Malaysia, along with the PKR and PAS, that are seen as electable alternatives to the Barisan Nasional coalition of parties...
, PKR
Parti Keadilan Rakyat
The People's Justice Party , often known simply as KeADILan) is a centrist political party in Malaysia formed in 2003 by a merger of the National Justice Party and the older Malaysian People's Party...
, and the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) — all members of the national Pakatan Rakyat coalition — and the local Sarawak National Party
Sarawak National Party
Sarawak National Party known by its acronym as "SNAP", is a political party in Malaysia. It was a member party of Barisan Nasional since Sarawak joined Malaysia until 2004 when it was expelled from Barisan Nasional...
. The Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin
Muhyiddin Yassin
Tan Sri Muhyiddin bin Yassin is a Malaysian politician and the current Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Education. He is also the Deputy President of the United Malays National Organisation , the main component party of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.Muhyiddin grew up in the state...
visited Sibu on 19 April, expressing confidence that the voters were leaning towards supporting Barisan Nasional.
While SUPP's candidate was confirmed only a few days after Hoi Chew's death, the DAP delayed announcing its candidate until 27 April. SUPP alleged the delay was due to a split in the DAP; however, the DAP insisted the delay was a calculated political strategy. On 27 April, the Sarawak Pakatan Rakyat announced Wong Ho Leng
Wong Ho Leng
Wong Ho Leng is a Malaysian politician. He is currently the Member of Parliament of Sibu and Member of the State Legislative Assembly of Sarawak for the seat of Bukit Assek and is the opposition leader of the assembly, being the state chairman of the Democratic Action Party in the Pakatan Rakyat...
, state chairman of the DAP and State Assemblyman for Bukit Assek, as its candidate. Wong had earlier indicated his reluctance to stand in the by-election, suggesting that the party consider the opportunity to field a younger candidate.
Robert Lau Hui Yew and Wong Ho Leng were joined by an independent candidate, Narawi Haron. A businessman and former member of the Army, Narawi had been a candidate for the seat in the 1995 election
Malaysian general election, 1995
General elections were held in Malaysia on 25 April 1995. The result was a victory for the UMNO-led Barisan Nasional, which won 162 of the 192 seats. Voter turnout was 68.3%.-Results:...
. Narawi's campaign was dismissed by the SUPP as inconsequential, while the DAP admitted that a potential split of votes between the DAP and Narawi could hurt its chances.
Election campaign issues
The by-election was widely known as the "Battle of the Mighty RejangRajang River
The Rajang River is a river in Sarawak, Malaysia. The river is located in northwest of Borneo and it originates in the Iran Mountains. The river flows approximately 563 km to the South China Sea, making it the longest river in Malaysia....
" and was seen as a litmus test for the popularity of the opposition Pakatan Rakyat
Pakatan Rakyat
Pakatan Rakyat or PR is an informal Malaysian political coalition. It currently controls four state governments while in opposition to the ruling Barisan Nasional at the federal level....
and governing Barisan Nasional coalitions on a including land rights, poverty, native displacement and unemployment in Sarawak
Sarawak
Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Known as Bumi Kenyalang , Sarawak is situated on the north-west of the island. It is the largest state in Malaysia followed by Sabah, the second largest state located to the North- East.The administrative capital is Kuching, which...
.
One of the main issues during the election was the ban of the use of the word 'Allah' in Christian publications
Titular Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur v. Menteri Dalam Negeri
Titular Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur v. Menteri Dalam Negeri is a court decision holding that Christians have the constitutional right to use the word "Allah" as long as use of the word was limited to educating Christians...
. However, the Sarawak police has banned political parties from using the issue during campaigning in the by-election as it was deemed to be a sensitive issue. Sarawak's Officer in Charge of Criminal Investigations, Huzir Mohamed, threatened to prosecute offenders of the ban under the Sedition Act
Sedition Act
Sedition Act may refer to:*Alien and Sedition Acts, including the Sedition Act of 1798, laws passed by the United States Congress*Sedition Act 1661, an English statute that largely relates to treason...
or the Internal Security Act
Internal Security Act
The term Internal Security Act is often given to a piece of legislation laying down regulations that enable the executive government of a jurisdiction to preserve the internal security of the nation...
(ISA).
Barisan Nasional
The Barisan NasionalBarisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence...
did not initially release a policy manifesto for the by-election, but sought support on the basis of its claim to have caused Sibu's economic growth and development. Nevertheless, late in the campaign, the BN-SUPP candidate, Robert Lau Hui Yew, himself released a manifesto in which, according to Bernama
BERNAMA
BERNAMA is a news agency of the government of Malaysia. It is an autonomous body placed under the Information, Culture and Communications Ministry. It was set up by an Act of Parliament in 1967 and started work on 26 May 1968....
, he mentioned that he would prioritise "getting more investment, job creation, skills training for single parents to increase their income, install more CCTVs in town to improve security and reduce street crimes rates as well as to transform Sibu into a 'wireless' township."
During the campaign period, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had distributed RM
Malaysian ringgit
The Malaysian ringgit is the currency of Malaysia. It is divided into 100 sen...
18 million to 60 Chinese aided primary schools, five independent Chinese secondary schools and two missionary schools in Sibu. Najib said that the Barisan Nasional government would continue to do more for Chinese education in the country, saying that "the Barisan government is a true friend of Chinese education," when addressing more than 3,000 Chinese educationists. Besides that, some 246 families living in an under-developed region in Sungai Igan within the constituency had received a total of RM147,600 as a one-off allocation from the Federal Government. Four Methodist churches in town had been given special grants totalling RM1.75 million from the BN federal government in the final hours of the by-election campaign.
The SUPP attacked the DAP on the basis of its coalition with the Islamist PAS, arguing that “A vote for Rocket is a vote for Islamic State". Lim Kit Siang, the parliamentary leader of the DAP, said that the issue was a “killer weapon” which could “finish off” the chances of DAP's candidate winning by frightening off the Chinese and non-Muslim voters in Sibu as it did during the 1999 Malaysian General Election
Malaysian general election, 1999
The 1999 Malaysian General Election was held on 29 November 1999 as stipulated by the laws of Malaysia for general elections. As expected, the Barisan Nasional coalition maintained its majority in parliament, and thus, its grip on the post of Prime Minister....
where both Karpal Singh
Karpal Singh
Karpal Singh is a Malaysian lawyer and politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for the neighbourhood of Bukit Gelugor in the state of Penang since 2004...
and Lim himself lost their parliamentary seats. The SUPP also claimed that if the DAP was to be voted in kampua noodles could no longer be sold as they were mixed with pork lard; a reference to PAS's policy to establish Malaysia as an Islamic state.
Abdul Taib Mahmud
Abdul Taib Mahmud
Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib bin Mahmud is the fourth and current Chief Minister of Sarawak. He is also the state Financial Minister and Planning and Resource Management Minister. Taib is the President of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu , which is part of the Barisan Nasional coalition...
, the BN chief minister of Sarawak, revised new land renewal rates which took effect on June 1. He said that the Sarawak new land rates is the cheapest in Malaysia as compared to other states. In accordance with opposition proposal for the unconditioned, automatic renewal of land leases, he also challenged the opposition-led state governments to announce new land rates lower than the current one announced by himself, without risking the income of the state governments.
Najib Tun Razak
Najib Tun Razak
Dato' Sri Haji Mohd Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak is the sixth, and since 2009, Prime Minister of Malaysia. He previously held the post of Deputy Prime Minister from 7 January 2004 until he succeeded Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as Prime Minister on 3 April 2009. Najib is President of the United...
, the Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Malaysia
The Prime Minister of Malaysia is the indirectly elected head of government of Malaysia. He is officially appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the head of state, who in HM's judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of that House of Representatives , the...
and leader of BN, promised voters in Rejang Park, a DAP stronghold, 5 million ringgit to alleviate floods if SUPP’s Robert Lau Hui Yew won the seat, stating at an election appearance: "Do we have a deal or not? We do! You want the RM5 million, I want Robert Lau to win.”
Democratic Action Party
The DAP set out a seven-point manifesto with the theme “Sibu Jom Ubah” or “Sibu4change” for the by-election campaign and on the top of it is solving the town’s flood woes in two years when the party and its coalition becomes the government at the federal and state levels. Another point in the manifesto stated that DAP would provide all Sarawakians aged above 60 a minimum of RM100 per annum as a gift for their contributions to the state. A minimum wage of RM750 per month for workers in the peninsula and RM830 for workers in Sarawak will be introduced and on education, DAP promised that all schools would be given allocations according to their needs as practised in Penang, Selangor and Kelantan. The three other points in the manifesto concerned oil royalty, land reform, and competency, accountability and transparency in governance.The DAP also focused on landholding issues. Chong Chieng Jen
Chong Chieng Jen
Chong Chieng Jen, , is a Malaysian lawyer and politician from the Democratic Action Party . He owns a legal firm named Chong Brothers Advocates. He is currently the member of Malaysian Parliament for Bandar Kuching seat and the member of the Sarawak State Assembly for Kota Sentosa...
, the director of the DAP's by-election campaign, pointed out that those who decided not to renew their 60 year land leases would have their land returned to the government without compensation, and that even if the government approved requests to have leases renewed, landholders would have to pay large premiums. Chong said that the DAP on the other hand wanted the current state land code to be amended to allow for the automatic and unconditional renewal of all leased land for a period of 99 years.
On the ban of using the "Allah" issue
Titular Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur v. Menteri Dalam Negeri
Titular Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur v. Menteri Dalam Negeri is a court decision holding that Christians have the constitutional right to use the word "Allah" as long as use of the word was limited to educating Christians...
during campaigns, the DAP had gone against it and had gone ahead with the issue in its campaign. Wong Ho Leng, the DAP election candidate, said that the facts must be made known to the public. Wong also promised that if elected, he would call upon the Prime Minister and Home Minister to immediately cease the legal dispute with the Christian churches over these matters to protect the freedom of religion in Malaysia for non-Muslims. The DAP has also challenge candidate Robert Lau to make his stand about the ban on non-Muslims using the word “Allah” with DAP MP Teresa Kok
Teresa Kok
Teresa Kok Suh Sim is a Malaysian Member of Parliament from the Democratic Action Party .-Background:Born and bred in Kuala Lumpur, Teresa is a second-generation Malaysian of Chinese descent. Kok is a member of the Hakka dialect group and her ancestors were from Huizhou, Guangdong Province, China....
stating that "If Robert Lau intends to be a Member of Parliament that speaks up for a Christian-majority constituency, Sibu, then he has the moral duty to declare his stand on this thorny issue, so that the voters in Sibu can decide whether they can count on him to speak up on this issue," Another issue that was brought up during the by-election was the decision of the Home Ministry to destroy the 5,000 copies of Indonesian Bibles confiscated.
On SUPP's questioning DAP’s association with PAS despite having different ideology, the DAP defended itself by stating that PAS has been steadfast in the rights to freedom of religion of non-Muslims and this can be seen through PAS being able to declare that there is absolutely nothing in the Quran which forbids the use of the term "Allah" in Christian publications.
The DAP sought to pressure Robert Lau Hui Yew over the government's proposed Goods and Services Tax
Goods and services tax in Malaysia
Goods and services taxes of M'sia or value added tax may be implemented by the Malaysian government somewhere in the third quarter of 2011...
, arguing that the tax would increase prices for consumers in one of Malaysia's poorest states. The DAP, through its leader Lim Kit Siang also pressured Hui Yew to speak up against the government's education policy, claiming that Hui Yew's choice to have his children educated overseas demonstrated his lack of confidence in Malaysian education. On education, the DAP also criticised SUPP's involvement in the sale of the Laila Taib College, previously known as United College Sarawak, to the Yayasan Sarawak (Sarawak Foundation) for the price of one ringgit
Malaysian ringgit
The Malaysian ringgit is the currency of Malaysia. It is divided into 100 sen...
, when the local Chinese population had donated money to fund the college's building.
Results
The election was won by Wong Ho Leng by a margin of 398 votes over Robert Lau Hui Yew. The result was seen as a surprise win for the DAP and the opposition, as it ended a run of by-election defeats for the Pakatan Rakyat parties and boosted the DAP ahead of the state electionsSarawak state election, 2011
The tenth Sarawak state election was held on April 16, 2011 after nomination for candidates on April 6. The purpose of the election was to elect 71 representatives to the Sarawak State Assembly...
due to be held in Sarawak in 2011. The victorious Wong claimed his election was a "miracle". 37,919 out of 54,695 registered voters cast a ballot, signifying a 70% turnout. There were 395 spoilt votes.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pakatan Rakyat Pakatan Rakyat Pakatan Rakyat or PR is an informal Malaysian political coalition. It currently controls four state governments while in opposition to the ruling Barisan Nasional at the federal level.... – DAP Democratic Action Party The Democratic Action Party, or DAP is a secular, multi-racial, social democratic Malaysian political party.The DAP is one of the three major opposition parties in Malaysia, along with the PKR and PAS, that are seen as electable alternatives to the Barisan Nasional coalition of parties... |
Richard Wong Ho Leng Wong Ho Leng Wong Ho Leng is a Malaysian politician. He is currently the Member of Parliament of Sibu and Member of the State Legislative Assembly of Sarawak for the seat of Bukit Assek and is the opposition leader of the assembly, being the state chairman of the Democratic Action Party in the Pakatan Rakyat... |
18,845 | 49.7% |
| Barisan Nasional Barisan Nasional Barisan Nasional is a major political coalition in Malaysia, formed in 1973 as the successor to the Alliance . Along with its predecessor, it has been Malaysia's federal ruling political force since independence... – SUPP |
Robert Lau Hui Yew | 18,447 | 48.7% |
| Independent Independent (politician) In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do... |
Narawi Haron | 232 | 0.6% |
| Majority | 398 | 1% | |
| Turnout | 37,919 | 69.32% | |
Postal Votes Controversy
The announcement of the result was marred by a two-hour long delay because of arguments over the discrepancies of the postal votes by Pakatan RakyatPakatan Rakyat
Pakatan Rakyat or PR is an informal Malaysian political coalition. It currently controls four state governments while in opposition to the ruling Barisan Nasional at the federal level....
election agents. Of the 2,827 ballot papers issued for postal votes, BN won 2,323 votes (82.2%), DAP won 70 (2.4%), the independent won 36 (1.2%) while 208 (7.3%) were considered spoilt.
Pahang PKR secretariat director Zaidi Ahmad, who was appointed by the party as the team leader in charge of monitoring the postal votes during the polls, mentioned that the DAP would not have won if the 208 postal votes were not declared spoilt and the 170 ballot papers for what he claimed were “phantom postal voters” were returned and added to the tally.
Zaidi had claimed that the forms state the names, identification numbers and information about the voters and are supposed to be signed by the voters themselves as well as their witnesses. However, the election agents noticed that the same witness would sign differently on different forms. On some forms, the voters themselves did not even sign them. Zaidi concluded by saying that it meant that others had signed on their behalf. He added that only after persistent complaints from the PR’s election agents, Election Commission officials agreed to consider 208 ballot papers from the postal votes as spoilt votes. He also said that they have found at least between 700 and 800 more postal votes that had discrepancies but the EC disallowed these from being considered as spoilt. Zaidi finally claimed that if the by-election had truly been run properly, DAP could have won with a much bigger majority as if at least 700 more postal votes were rejected as spoilt, DAP could have won the polls with a majority of a little over 1,000.
As a result, the Election Commission would review the postal voting system where EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said they would study the proposal to call for an early voting session for army personnel, policemen and EC staff instead of posting votes. Nevertheless, the Youth wing of the PAS have demanded for the postal votes to be abolished altogether as it claims that the postal votes are no longer relevant and is prone to abuse and exploitation by the government to their benefit.
Aftermath
With the win of the DAP's candidate, there were various responses from the community. While there is fear by the local Chinese community leaders that BN's defeat in Sibu would affect the town's growth, others like the opposition take it as a good omen as BN can no longer take Sarawak as its "fixed-deposit" in terms of parliamentary seats and neglect the state's development. Chua Soi LekChua Soi Lek
Datuk Seri Dr. Chua Soi Lek ; born 2 January 1947, also known as Chua Kin Seng, is a Malaysian politician from the state of Johor. He is married to Datin Seri Wong Sek Hin. They have three children...
of the Malaysian Chinese Association
Malaysian Chinese Association
Malaysian Chinese Association is a uni-racial political party in Malaysia that represents the Malaysian Chinese ethnicity; it is one of the three major component parties of the ruling coalition in Malaysia called the Barisan Nasional in Malay, or National Front in English.Along with the largest...
, a member of the BN, said that the government could no longer hide from the fact that there were issues plaguing the Chinese community and that it can no longer be swept under the carpet following the losing of Chinese-majority polling centres in the by-election.
Lim Kit Siang of the DAP mentioned that the party's win in Sibu renews Pakatan Rakyat
Pakatan Rakyat
Pakatan Rakyat or PR is an informal Malaysian political coalition. It currently controls four state governments while in opposition to the ruling Barisan Nasional at the federal level....
's Putrajaya
Putrajaya
Putrajaya is a planned city, located 25km south of Kuala Lumpur, that serves as the federal administrative centre of Malaysia. The seat of government was shifted in 1999 from Kuala Lumpur to Putrajaya, due to the overcrowding and congestion in the Kuala Lumpur areas...
dream, referring to PR's ambition to form the Federal government in the next 13th general election. However, political scientists mentioned that PR would have a tough time getting support from rural areas, referring to the DAP's dismal performance in rural polling centres. Nevertheless, encouraged by the strong support from the urban Chinese community in the Sibu by-election, DAP is now aiming to win the four other Chinese-majority parliamentary seats (namely the Sarikei, Miri, Stampin and Lanang seats) and seven other State constituencies held by SUPP in Sarawak.
Abdul Taib Mahmud
Abdul Taib Mahmud
Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib bin Mahmud is the fourth and current Chief Minister of Sarawak. He is also the state Financial Minister and Planning and Resource Management Minister. Taib is the President of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu , which is part of the Barisan Nasional coalition...
, the BN Chief Minister of Sarawak, said that the BN lost mainly due to the influx of PR campaigners from Peninsular Malaysia. Abang Johari Openg, Sarawak state Minister for Housing and Urban Development, blamed the "provocative tactics" allegedly employed by Pakatan Rakyat leaders for causing the defeat of the SUPP candidate, referring to the raising of the ‘Allah’ issue. President of Parti Rakyat Sarawak
Parti Rakyat Sarawak
The Parti Rakyat Sarawak or, PRS is a political party in Malaysia. The party is one of the constituent members of the ruling Barisan Nasional...
(a component party of BN in Sarawak) and state Minister of Land Development James Masing had warned Peninsular Malaysia-based opposition parties to refrain from practising "rowdy" politics in Sarawak saying that it might break down social order in the country, citing the May 13 incident
May 13 Incident
The 13 May Incident is a term for the Sino-Malay sectarian violences in Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia, which began on 13 May 1969...
where a racial riot occurred when BN lost its two-third supermajority
Supermajority
A supermajority or a qualified majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level or type of support which exceeds a simple majority . In some jurisdictions, for example, parliamentary procedure requires that any action that may alter the rights of the minority has a supermajority...
in parliament during the Malaysian general election, 1969
Malaysian general election, 1969
General elections were held in Malaysia on 10 May 1969, although voting was postponed until between 21 and 27 June in Sabah and Sarawak. It resulted in the return to power, with a reduced majority, of the ruling Alliance Party, comprising the United Malays National Organization , the Malayan...
.
As for the SUPP, its president George Chan Hong Nam
George Chan Hong Nam
Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr. George Chan Hong Nam , was the former Deputy Chief Minister of Sarawak, state Industrial Development Minister and state Tourism and Heritage Minister. He is now the former member of the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly for Piasau, Miri after having lost his seat to the...
who congratulated its winning candidate Wong immediately after the election result was announced, said that his party was completely overwhelmed by DAP's streetfighter style of politics and said, "these outsiders with their street culture have come to spoil the good nature of Sarawakians," and that "SUPP would do all it could to ensure that the "outsiders" do not gain a foothold here". Wong Soon Koh, the SUPP state assemblyman for the Bawang Assan state seat within Sibu and a minister in the Sarawak state cabinet, claimed that the DAP was now extremely rich and could fly over campaigners from Peninsula Malaysia to Sibu for the by-election. Soon Koh's remarks came under fire by Chong Chieng Jen
Chong Chieng Jen
Chong Chieng Jen, , is a Malaysian lawyer and politician from the Democratic Action Party . He owns a legal firm named Chong Brothers Advocates. He is currently the member of Malaysian Parliament for Bandar Kuching seat and the member of the Sarawak State Assembly for Kota Sentosa...
of the DAP where he defended the party by saying that nearly all DAP campaigners including Members of Parliament, state assemblymen or ordinary members, took care of their own expenses and stayed either with party members in Sibu or in low-budget hotels to save expenses. Chong also said that unlike BN leaders, they do not fly first class, nor stay at five-star hotels which are paid for by the federal or state government under the pretext of carrying out their government duties while on the other hand obviously campaigning for the SUPP candidate.
Ibrahim Ali
Ibrahim Ali (Malaysia)
Dato' Ibrahim bin Ali is a Malaysian politician and is currently the member of parliament for Pasir Mas. He is also the founder and president of Malay rights group Perkasa.-Political career:...
, the president of Malay rights group Perkasa
Perkasa
Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia or Perkasa is a non-governmental Malay Supremacy organization that was formed by Ibrahim Ali in the aftermath of the Malaysian general elections in 2008...
labelled the Chinese in Sibu as ungrateful for not voting for the BN. He claimed that the Chinese in Sibu had not appreciated the development projects and financial allocations offered by BN while the Bumiputera had to endure and compromise with the wish of Chinese community. His statement came under fire by locals, including the Bumiputera community, as he was dubbed 'ignorant' on the current issues in Sibu.
Nevertheless, the losing candidate, Lau Hui Yew, pledged that he will continue to serve the people as a councilor of Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) and as a party leader. On the other hand, Muhyiddin Yassin
Muhyiddin Yassin
Tan Sri Muhyiddin bin Yassin is a Malaysian politician and the current Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Education. He is also the Deputy President of the United Malays National Organisation , the main component party of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.Muhyiddin grew up in the state...
, the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia
Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia
Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia is the second highest political office in Malaysia. There has been ten deputy prime ministers since the office was created in 1957. Although there has always been a Deputy Prime Minister since independence, there is nothing preventing a Prime Minister from not...
and BN's campaign director in Sibu, said that the BN will keep all promises and commitments made during the by-election even though the party lost the by-election.
See also
- Members of the 12th Malaysian Parliament from Sarawak