Sunday, February 24th, 2008 ,Borneo Post

Unchallenged contenders
By Raynore Mering
How many more will be elected unopposed today? Since 1969, only 27 candidates have made it to the ‘exclusive club’
THERE is a club that all aspiring elected representatives dream of joining but only a handful have gained entry out of the hundreds of candidates who saw action in parliamentary elections in the state.
To become a member of this club, there is only one requirement — win unopposed.
In the nine parliamentary elections in Sarawak since 1969, only 27 candidates had enjoyed the comforts of the club while others battled away.
Today is nomination day again and chances are good that there would be new members who will join the club.
The question is how many? More than the six in the 2004 parliamentary election perhaps?
To win uncontested on nomination day is to have a massive load taken off a candidate’s shoulders.
With his place assured in parliament, he keeps his dates on the campaign trail but mainly to thank his constituents.
And if he is a party candidate, he goes where he is needed to shore up support for the contending candidates from his party.
A candidate who has won uncontested may have won his battle but not his party’s war.
The first parliamentary election to have uncontested victories in Sarawak was in 1978 with Datuk Amar Stephen Yong in Padawan, Datuk Luhat Wan in Baram and Racha Umong in Bukit Mas.
Since then, there have been uncontested victories every time the parliamentary polls were held.
The year 1995 was a bumper year for candidates who won uncontested when eight in total were ushered into the club.
That year, the candidates who won unopposed were three times Datuk Amar Dr Sulaiman Daud (Petra Jaya), Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud (Kota Samarahan), Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar (Batang Lupar), Jawah Gerang (Lubok Antu), Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas (Betong), Datuk Abang Abu Bakar Abang Mustapha (Kuala Rajang), Tan Sri Law Hieng Ding (Sarikei) and Datuk Dr Leo Michael Toyad (Mukah).
The two elections with the second highest number of unopposed candidates were in 1982 and in 2004 with six candidates each.
In the last parliamentary election, the unopposed victors were Taib (Kota Samarahan), Datuk Rohani Abdul Karim (Batang Lupar), Datuk Wahab Dolah (Kuala Rajang), Alexander Nanta Linggi (Kapit), Datuk Peter Chin (Miri) and Henry Sum Agong (Bukit Mas).
Taib, the Chief Minister and the state Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman, and Dr Sulaiman are the only two parliamentarians to have won unopposed three times in Sarawak.
Taib won uncontested in 1982, 1995 and 2004, while Dr Sulaiman experienced it in 1982, 1986 and 1995.
What makes the club even more exclusive must be that all who have passed through its gates are from the BN and a majority of them are from the state coalition’s backbone, Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), of which Taib is president.
But candidates who win uncontested are not without their critics.
“It’s a win by default. In sports term, a walk-over. They haven’t proven that they have the support of the people,” said a critic.
However, in a country that practises democracy, which is a little hard to swallow and luck has nothing do with it too.
The fact that many of those who win unopposed are political heavyweights and that some of them can win without breaking a sweat in more than one election must mean something.
Surely, their performance and popularity among constituents as well as the political situation of the day would have played on the minds of their opponents as they decided right up to the time the nomination centres opened whether or not they should join the race.
So maybe when a candidate wins uncontested, his opponents had come to the conclusion that their cause might not be worth the trouble and that they would rather not lose time or money — there’s a lot one can do with an election deposit of RM10,000.
After 11am today, the contenders in all 31 parliamentary seats in Sarawak should be known but how many will go on to join the club of unopposed winners is still anybody’s guess.
Some political observers reckoned that there could be more uncontested wins this election.
“My feeling is that because the election is held in a little of a hurry, some parties may be unprepared and I doubt if the independent candidates have enough time to search for funding,” said a senior politician.
He believed that while it was almost certain that all urban seats would be contested, there would be some rural seats that could go unopposed to the BN.
When told that land seemed to be an issue in the urban areas, he replied: “Land will be a minor political issue. By and large, I think it would go quite smoothly for BN. I think there could be more uncontested seats.” Another politician, however, disagreed as he believed that there were enough prevailing issues now to encourage people to make their stand during the polls.
On top of that, he expected the opposition parties to contest in more seats, even fighting each other in some seats.
All opposition parties in Sarawak, including the Sarawak National Party (SNAP) and the State Reform Party (STAR), are expected to contest in the coming election.
“I won’t be surprised if there is no uncontested win this election with the exception of maybe one or two seats. A lot has happened since the 2004 election in the state and country as a whole,” he said.
Baring any slip-ups by the BN candidates that could disqualify them from the race today, it is very unlikely that the opposition members will ever get to throw their feet up in the exclusive club of unopposed victors.
The possibility is even more remote if they are independent candidates, who are permanent fixtures in every parliamentary election.
A total of 163 independent candidates have entered the fray since 1969. And if the club for the unopposed is exclusive, the club for successful independent candidates would be even harder to enter though not as many politicians dream of joining them.