Sarawak voters express support for Barisan National party on eve of polls

Voters in Sarawak state’s capital Kuching on Friday spoke of their enduring support for the National Front, or Barisan Nasional (BN) party on the eve of key state elections, according to an epa journalist on the scene.

Political analysts have tipped Sarawak’s ruling BN coalition to win an impressive victory in Saturday’s polls to retain its twothirds majority in the state assembly, according to the Nikkei Asian Review.

The Election Commission has predicted an 80 percent turnout for the polls in Borneo’s eastern Sarawak state, according to The Star Online newspaper, with 1.14 million people eligible to vote.

The elections in Malaysia’s largest state are considered a crucial indicator of the staying power of Prime Minister and BN chairman Najib Razak’s administration after it was implicated in the $700million 1MDB state fund scandal in July 2015.

Sarawak holds 31 seats in the federal government, more than any other state, and is relied on by Najib’s party to help keep them in power.

Habibah Karim, a 46yearold housewife, told epa she would “support Najib 100 percent” when she casts her ballot in the state’s 11th election.

She added that if the BN party retained power, she hoped they would implement more development and better jobs and salaries for Sarawak’s 2.6 millionstrong population.

Kamal Bujang, a 47yearold factory worker, told epa the state needed “big changes” and noted that despite its abundant natural resources, people still struggled to survive.

The BN voter dismissed the uproar over the 1MDB scandal, saying that it was a “federal government problem as long as it does not affect Sarawak, I’m ok”.

Najib on Friday urged voters to choose leaders who were reliable and could bring more development, according to Bernama news agency.

“We must choose those who can protect our future,” he said at a ceremony to mark the handover of agricultural land titles in Sarawak’s northwest Lundu.

The elections come amid the discovery on Friday of the debris of a helicopter that disappeared Thursday night in Sarawak with six people on board.

Among the passengers was Noriah Kasnon, a Malaysian deputy minister who was traveling to participate in the state polls.