No easy ride for DAP: Minos

KUCHING: DAP faces a tougher electoral battle in Sarawak regardless of whether the state goes to the polls with the existing 82 constituencies or the proposed 99, said political observer Datuk Peter Minos.
 
He said developments in Sabah, Johor and Negeri Sembilan showed it will no longer be an “easy ride” for DAP, particularly among Chinese voters.
 
“There is no more walk in the park for DAP. They cannot claim automatic Chinese seats and there is no more fixed deposit.
 
“DAP can no longer assume urban Chinese seats are automatic wins as Sarawak voters increasingly prioritise local interests,” he said.
 
Minos said many Chinese voters were also becoming less receptive to DAP’s long-standing “check and balance” narrative.
 
“Majority Chinese are not very keen on DAP’s ‘check and balance’ propaganda anymore. Most Chinese are asking: What have you DAP been checking and balancing on?” he said.
 
He added that Sarawak voters were increasingly tired of what he described as DAP politics influenced by Malayan political dynamics.
 
“People here are a bit tired of DAP politics that are coached in Malaya. They say DAP in Sarawak is the same as in Malaya,” he said.
 
According to Minos, the sentiment could become particularly significant if the next state election is contested across all 17 proposed additional constituencies currently being considered by the Election Commission (EC).
 
“So whether there are 82 seats or 99 as proposed by the EC, it makes no difference. Sarawakianswill go for ‘Sarawak for Sarawakians’,” he said.
 
Minos expected DAP to concentrate its efforts on urban constituencies with sizeable Chinese voter populations, particularly in Kuching, Sibu and Miri, while also possibly targeting Bintulu and Sarikei.
 
However, he believed the party would be less inclined to focus on rural constituencies.
 
“With the current mood in Sarawak, it will be a big miracle if DAP can clinch any seat, rural or urban,” he said.
 
“DAP has to work and pray very hard to get any seat.”
 
Minos’s assessment comes as the EC’s proposed electoral boundary changes, including 17 new state constituencies, are being publicly displayed until Sept 30 for objections and representations.