![20110406SarawakStateElectionDAPCampaignKuching](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/20110406SarawakStateElectionDAPCampaignKuching.JPG)
The tenth Sarawak state election was held on Saturday, 16 April 2011 after nomination for candidates on Wednesday, 6 April 2011. The purpose of the election was to elect 71 representatives to the
Sarawak State Assembly. The ninth state assembly was dissolved by
Yang di-Pertua Negeri Sarawak
The Yang di-Pertua Negeri Sarawak, also known as the Governor of Sarawak, is the ceremonial head of state of Sarawak. The Yang di-Pertua Negeri is styled ().
The official residence of the Governor is The Astana, located on the north bank of ...
,
Tun
TUN or tun may refer to:
Biology
* Tun shells, large sea snails of the family ''Tonnidae''
* Tun, a tardigrade in its cryptobiotic state
* Tun or Toon, common name for trees of the genus '' Toona''
Places
* Tun, Sweden, a locality in Västra G ...
Abang Muhammad Salahuddin Abang Barieng on the advice of
Chief Minister
A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...
Abdul Taib Mahmud on 21 March 2011.
The
previous state election in Sarawak was held in 2006.
The election resulted in
Barisan Nasional
The National Front ( ms, Barisan Nasional; abbrev: BN) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1973 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties. It is also the third largest political coalition with 30 ...
(BN) retaining its two-thirds majority, albeit by a reduced margin.
BN lost eight seats, mainly through the
Sarawak United People's Party
The Sarawak United Peoples' Party, or SUPP (; ms, Parti Rakyat Bersatu Sarawak; Iban: ''Gerempong Sa'ati Rayat Sarawak'') is a multiracial centre-right local political party of Malaysia based in Sarawak. The SUPP president is Dr. Sim Kui Hi ...
(SUPP). SUPP leader and deputy chief minister
George Chan Hong Nam
Tan Sri Datuk Patinggi Dr. George Chan Hong Nam (; born 24 September 1936), is 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 Sar ...
lost his seat. The opposition
Pakatan Rakyat
The People's Alliance ( ms, Pakatan Rakyat; abbrev: PR) was an informal Malaysian political coalition and successor to Barisan Alternatif (BA). The political coalition was formed by the People's Justice Party (PKR), Democratic Action Party (DA ...
made gains, but fell short of its goal to deny a two-thirds majority for BN. The party with the single biggest gain on the day was the
Democratic Action Party
The Democratic Action Party (abbreviation: DAP; ms, Parti Tindakan Demokratik; ; ta, ஜனநாயக செயல் கட்சி) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Malaysia. As one of four component parties of the ...
(DAP), which doubled its seats to 12.
Taib, who had served as Chief Minister for 30 years, was sworn in for his eighth term on the same night.
Wong Ho Leng
Wong Ho Leng (; 21 December 1959 – 21 June 2014) was a Malaysian politician. He was the opposition leader of the Sarawak State Assembly from May 2006 to June 2013. He was also the state chairman of the Democratic Action Party (DAP) from 200 ...
was reappointed as opposition leader after his party (DAP) won the most seats for the opposition bench.
Before this,
Baru Bian
Baru Bian (born 9 September 1958) is a Malaysian politician. He has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Selangau since May 2018 and Member of the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Ba'kelalan since April 2011. He also had se ...
was being nominated as chief minister-in-waiting by Pakatan Rakyat.
Background
Before the dissolution of Sarawak State Assembly, the Sarawak branch of the federal ruling coalition
Barisan Nasional
The National Front ( ms, Barisan Nasional; abbrev: BN) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1973 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties. It is also the third largest political coalition with 30 ...
held 63 state seats, of which the
Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu
Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB; en, United Bumiputera Heritage Party) is a right-wing political party in Malaysia. It is currently the largest political party in Sarawak. Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu was formed from the combination o ...
had 35 seats,
Sarawak United People's Party
The Sarawak United Peoples' Party, or SUPP (; ms, Parti Rakyat Bersatu Sarawak; Iban: ''Gerempong Sa'ati Rayat Sarawak'') is a multiracial centre-right local political party of Malaysia based in Sarawak. The SUPP president is Dr. Sim Kui Hi ...
12 seats,
Parti Rakyat Sarawak
The ''Parti Rakyat Sarawak'' or PRS (English: Sarawak Peoples' Party) is a multiracialism & nationalism political party in Sarawak, and Malaysia at all. The party was founded in the wake of the de-registration of the Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawa ...
8 seats and
Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party 8 seats. The opposition parties held eight seats in total; the federal opposition coalition
Pakatan Rakyat
The People's Alliance ( ms, Pakatan Rakyat; abbrev: PR) was an informal Malaysian political coalition and successor to Barisan Alternatif (BA). The political coalition was formed by the People's Justice Party (PKR), Democratic Action Party (DA ...
had seven seats (
Democratic Action Party
The Democratic Action Party (abbreviation: DAP; ms, Parti Tindakan Demokratik; ; ta, ஜனநாயக செயல் கட்சி) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Malaysia. As one of four component parties of the ...
had six, and
Parti Keadilan Rakyat
The People's Justice Party ( ms, Parti Keadilan Rakyat , often known simply as KEADILAN or PKR) is a Reformism, reformist politics of Malaysia, political party in Malaysia, formed in 2003 by a merger of the National Justice Party and the olde ...
had one), while the remaining one seat was held by
Parti Cinta Malaysia
The Love Malaysia Party is a Malaysian political party formed in August 6, 2009. Its members include former Gerakan vice-president and Member of Parliament Huan Cheng Guan, and former Sarawak State Assembly independent member for Ngemah seat; ...
.
This election has become the biggest in the state history, whereby 213 candidates are vying for 71 seats. Barisan Nasional fielded candidates for all 71 seats, of which Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu, is contesting 35 seats, followed by 19 for Sarawak United People's Party, 9 to the Parti Rakyat Sarawak and 8 to the Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party. Pakatan Rakyat which was formed without a chairman in April 2010, fielded candidates in 69 seats out of the 71 seats, of which 49 candidates were from Parti Keadilan Rakyat, 15 seats from Democratic Action Party and five seats from
Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party
The Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS; ms, Parti Islam Se-Malaysia; ms, ڤرتي إسلام سمليسيا, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset) is an Islamist political party in Malaysia. As the party focused on Islamic fundamentalism, PAS's ...
.
Sarawak National Party
The Sarawak National Party known by its acronym as "SNAP", is now a defunct political party in Malaysia. It was a member party of the Alliance Party from 1963 to 1966 and a member of Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition from 1976 until its expulsion ...
(SNAP), despite being a member of the Pakatan Raykat, fielded its own candidates in 27 constituencies after negotiations with Parti Keadilan Rakyat broke down. It has nevertheless announced that it will support Baru Bian, the Pakatan candidate for chief minister, if it wins any seats.
The election also marks the debut of the
Parti Cinta Malaysia
The Love Malaysia Party is a Malaysian political party formed in August 6, 2009. Its members include former Gerakan vice-president and Member of Parliament Huan Cheng Guan, and former Sarawak State Assembly independent member for Ngemah seat; ...
, which is not affiliated with Pakatan Rakyat or Barisan Nasional and is contesting in 6 seats. Another newcomer is
Parti Ekonomi Rakyat Sarawak Bersatu (PERSB) (English: United Sarawak People's Economic Party) vying 16 seats. However PERSB were forced to contest as independent candidates as their party application has yet to be approved by Registrar of Societies (ROS) and during the nomination day, one of PERSB's candidate for N.58 Jepak was rejected by the Election Commission (EC).
Timeline
Election issues
![20110414TonyPuaThursday](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/20110414TonyPuaThursday.jpg)
During the election, the opposition began painting the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition in a bad light by pointing to the impounding on Alkitab or Bahasa Malaysia bibles, saying that they were anti-Christian.
Another election issue that the opposition has brought up was regarding the long tenure of Chief Minister Taib Mahmud and his refusal to resign and appoint a successor. The issue went in hand with them pointing out his alleged amassing of a huge fortune while in office which has been revealed in numerous websites, especially the Sarawak Report. Other reasons include fuel hike, land lease issue, state government contracts, open tender, and Chinese language education non-dominant parties perceived as weak partner in the state government, and weak party organisation and publicity. On government contracts, many Chinese businessmen were increasingly concerned about the lack of transparency and accountability on the awarding of the contracts. Several large infrastructure projects were awarded without notice or an open tender.
Results
Summary
A total of 18,363 eligible postal voters will be voting this time around in the Sarawak state election. Under Malaysian electoral law, teachers, military personnel, policemen and students based away from their constituencies are eligible to submit postal votes.
Although analysts predicted that Barisan Nasional's fight to keep their two-thirds majority in the assembly would be close, they emerged with a relatively comfortable result, finishing the night with 55 seats, above the 47 needed for a two-thirds majority. Prime minister
Najib Razak celebrated the victory as an indication that BN's support in Sarawak was still strong and noted that Pakatan Rakyat had failed to make major inroads into the state.
BN won the election on the back of uneven performances by its component parties. The
Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu
Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB; en, United Bumiputera Heritage Party) is a right-wing political party in Malaysia. It is currently the largest political party in Sarawak. Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu was formed from the combination o ...
(PBB) led by Taib won all their seats contested, but the
Sarawak United People's Party
The Sarawak United Peoples' Party, or SUPP (; ms, Parti Rakyat Bersatu Sarawak; Iban: ''Gerempong Sa'ati Rayat Sarawak'') is a multiracial centre-right local political party of Malaysia based in Sarawak. The SUPP president is Dr. Sim Kui Hi ...
(SUPP) did poorly, with their leader,
George Chan Hong Nam
Tan Sri Datuk Patinggi Dr. George Chan Hong Nam (; born 24 September 1936), is 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 Sar ...
losing his seat as well.
The SUPP suffered a net loss of five seats, all to the
Democratic Action Party
The Democratic Action Party (abbreviation: DAP; ms, Parti Tindakan Demokratik; ; ta, ஜனநாயக செயல் கட்சி) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Malaysia. As one of four component parties of the ...
(DAP), the same number it lost during the previous election. It won six out of 19 seats contested.
The opposition parties also had differing performances in the election. The DAP won 12 out of 15 seats contested and made the biggest gain of the day with six additional seats, while the
Parti Keadilan Rakyat
The People's Justice Party ( ms, Parti Keadilan Rakyat , often known simply as KEADILAN or PKR) is a Reformism, reformist politics of Malaysia, political party in Malaysia, formed in 2003 by a merger of the National Justice Party and the olde ...
(PKR) won only 3 seats out of 49 contested, gaining only two seats. PKR leaders still described the result as "historic" and a step towards a two-party system in the state. Meanwhile, the local
Sarawak National Party
The Sarawak National Party known by its acronym as "SNAP", is now a defunct political party in Malaysia. It was a member party of the Alliance Party from 1963 to 1966 and a member of Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition from 1976 until its expulsion ...
(SNAP) and peninsula-based
Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party
The Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS; ms, Parti Islam Se-Malaysia; ms, ڤرتي إسلام سمليسيا, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset) is an Islamist political party in Malaysia. As the party focused on Islamic fundamentalism, PAS's ...
(PAS) failed to win any seats with some candidates losing their
deposits
A deposit account is a bank account maintained by a financial institution in which a customer can deposit and withdraw money. Deposit accounts can be savings accounts, current accounts or any of several other types of accounts explained below.
...
.
Results by constituency
*Dr Johnichal Rayong, who won the N28 Engkilili seat on SNAP ticket, joined SUPP in December 2010, contributed another seat for BN.
**Gabriel Adit Demong previously an independent for N43 Ngemah constituency joined PKR in November 2008. He later quit PKR and joined Parti Cinta Malaysia
The Love Malaysia Party is a Malaysian political party formed in August 6, 2009. Its members include former Gerakan vice-president and Member of Parliament Huan Cheng Guan, and former Sarawak State Assembly independent member for Ngemah seat; ...
in December 2009.
***AMENDMENTS TO THE EXISTING NAMES OF STATE CONSTITUENCIES: N19 Mambong (Origin N16 Bengoh), N34 Batang Ai (Origin N29 Batang Air), N41 Kuala Rajang (Origin N35 Belawai), N68 Tanjong Batu (Origin N59 Kidurong)
Aftermath
As the DAP remained the largest opposition party in the assembly, its state chief
Wong Ho Leng
Wong Ho Leng (; 21 December 1959 – 21 June 2014) was a Malaysian politician. He was the opposition leader of the Sarawak State Assembly from May 2006 to June 2013. He was also the state chairman of the Democratic Action Party (DAP) from 200 ...
kept his position as state opposition leader.
[
Meanwhile, PKR decided to petition the Elections Court to declare the Senadin contest null and void, citing irregularities during the polling process. SUPP candidate Lee Kim Shin beat PKR's Michael Teo in the contest by 58 votes. Election observers have alleged abuse of ]postal votes
Postal voting is voting in an election where ballot papers are distributed to electors (and typically returned) by post, in contrast to electors voting in person at a polling station or electronically via an electronic voting system.
In an el ...
in the constituency by authorities to help Lee win.
References
External links
Keputusan Rasmi Pilihan Raya Umum DUN Sarawak ke-10
(Official results)
{{Malaysian elections
Sarawak
Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...
Sarawak state elections
April 2011 events in Asia