Chinese voters in Sarawak are not likely to move back to supporting Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) and the BN even under the new Chief Minister Adenan Satem, says the Sarawak DAP.

The existing situation will remain as long as the state government subscribes to the ‘politics of development’ as implemented by former chief minister Abdul Taib Mahmud, state DAP chief Chong Chieng Jen said.

“It all depends on the policies that Adenan will implement and the Chinese community will watch him closely on this,” Chong said today.

The Chinese community had largely voted for the opposition in the 2011 state election and 2013 parliamentary election because they saw the policies under Taib as oppressive and unfair to them.

In the 2011 state election, SUPP lost 13 out of the 19 state seats it contested, while in the 2013 parliamentary election, it lost all the six Chinese majority seats it contested.

In these two elections, Taib was the centre of the campaign, his long tenure in office, rampant corruption, abuse of power and the practice of cronyism being the issues of concern to the Chinese voters.

Now that Taib has stepped down, SUPP has expressed confidence that the Chinese will return to support SUPP and BN.

Reacting to this, Chong, who is the MP for Bandar Kuching and Kota Sentosa assemblyperson, said the Chinese were closely watching whether Adenan would continue Taib’s practices of corruption, abuse of power and cronyism in awarding government tenders and projects.

 ‘A strong opposition will benefit the people’

“But another big obstacle for the Chinese to move their support back to SUPP and BN is Umno.

“As long as Umno is the main policy maker, with its mode of politics subscribed to by SUPP and other BN component parties, not only the Chinese, but the Indians too will also shy away from the BN,” Chong added.

He believes that the Chinese would stand firmly behind the opposition because the country needs a strong opposition to fight for fairness, equality and justice.

“Had it not been for the strong showing of the opposition in the 2008 parliamentary election and subsequently in the 2013 parliamentary election, the first Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M) would not have been paid out.

“It was paid out after the 12th general election, after Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng paid RM100 to every senior citizen in the state.  

“We are talking about billions of ringgit being paid directly to the rakyat. Although this (BR1M) will not solve the economic woes or the plight of the people in the country, nevertheless it is a direct payment to the rakyat and to the poorer sector of the community,” Chong added.     

The writer, who uses a pseudonym, is based in Sarawak.