"Blue wind versus political tsunami": Sarawak and the Malaysian general election 2008

Abstract

The outcome of the twelfth Malaysian general election held in March 2008 surprised many people. It was indeed a wake-up call for Barisan Nasional when it failed to retain its two third majority in the parliament. Political pundits opined that "political tsunami" had contributed to this "wind of change" across the West Malaysian states resulting in four additional states (Kedah, Perak, Selangor, Penang) controlled by the opposition. Unlike in West Malaysia, the scenario in the states of Sabah and Sarawak were different. It was obvious that the so-called "political tsunami" did not reach the shore of Borneo. In fact as shown by the election results both states remained the strong bastion for Barisan Nasional with Sarawak Barisan Nasional won thirty out of thirty one seats contested and Sabah Barisan Nasional won twenty four out of twenty five seats contested. With that a total of 54 out of 140 Barisan Nasional seats in the parliament come from Sabah and Sarawak. Thus it is not difficult to understand why people in both states wanted greater representation in the federal cabinet. This paper examines why the so called "political tsunami" did not have much impact on the electoral outcome in Sarawak. In fact if the popular vote garnered by BN candidates in the rural areas is anything to go by then one can say that the support for BN had increased tremendously. The "blue wind" (gelombang biru) made its presence felt in the rural areas. In urban areas the support for BN candidates had dwindled. BN lost Bandar Kuching, an urban seat, to a candidate from Democratic Action Party. This paper discusses political issues raised during the campaigning period and to explain the voting behavior and pattern in rural and urban constituencies.