KUCHING: Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) does not face any problem in winning seats in rural areas, and may even surprise by winning some urban seats previously held by Democratic Action Party (DAP).
Assistant vice-chancellor (leadership and development) of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), Professor Datuk Mohd Fadzil Abdul Rahman said GPS was a very strong coalition with a very strong base in the rural areas.
“While in the rural areas GPS is very secure and can win almost all seats but their chances in urban areas depend entirely on the candidate’s ability to convince voters.”
GPS is made up of four component parties, namely Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and Progressive Democratic Party (PDP).
“We are all aware that seats such as Bandar Kuching and Lanang in Sibu, which are DAP’s traditional seats, are indeed difficult for GPS to snatch back considering that the candidates who are featured by DAP are influential, while the majority of the voters are Chinese and who are synonymous with DAP.
“But if we look at the GPS manifesto compared to the DAP manifesto and if the Chinese voters in urban areas are not too swayed by the sentiment of supporting DAP, but want to see changes in the area, I think it is possible that GPS can give a strong competition to DAP with such an organised manifesto,” Prof Mohd Fadzil told New Sarawak Tribune.
“The GPS manifesto is a manifesto that will greatly benefit the people.
“If voters in urban areas want to give GPS a chance through SUPP, that action will benefit residents in urban areas.
“People have seen that DAP has been in power for a long time in urban areas and perhaps in this general election, urban voters can make a change by giving GPS a chance to represent them in Parliament.
“Considering that the current position of GPS is very strong, it would be beneficial if the voters in the urban areas also think of giving the opportunity to GPS to prove the greatness of their manifesto that emphasises equality and more aggressive development opportunities in the urban and rural areas.”
To the question of whether young voters (Undi18) in the city would give a chance to GPS, he viewed that young voters in Sarawak were more focused on the advantages of GPS.
He said the involvement of Sarawak’s youth in politics was not as significant as in the Peninsular, but in Sarawak they looked more at the direction the government has taken and the government’s ability to fulfil all election promises.
“They can assess the strength of a party to support.
“They know the pros and cons of a party, that’s a sign that politics in Sarawak is more mature and stronger than before because young voters can make wise judgments and are not driven by emotions and sentiments alone,” Prof Mohd Fadzil said.
