Sarawak state election, 2016

Sarawak state election, 2016

7 May 2016

All 82 seats in the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly 42 seats needed for a majority Registered 1,139,647 Turnout 753,692 (66.13%)   Majority party Minority party Third party   PKR Leader Adenan Satem Chong Chieng Jen Baru Bian Party Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu DAP PKR Alliance Barisan Nasional PH PH Leader's seat Tanjong Datu Kota Sentosa Ba'kelalan Last election 55 seats, 55.36% 12 seats, 20.05% 3 seats, 17.41% Seats before 55 12 3 Seats won 72 / 82 7 / 82 3 / 82 Seat change 17 5 Popular vote 466,953 145,873 76,003 Percentage 61.96 19.35 10.08 Swing 6.6% 0.7% 7.3%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   STAR AMANAH PAS Leader Soo Lina Mohammad Fidzuan Zaidi Jofri Jaraiee Party STAR Amanah PAS Alliance - PH Third Front Last election Not contested New party No seats, 1.44% Seats before 0 0 0 Seats won 0 0 0 Seat change Popular vote 2,841 8,433 13,210 Percentage 0.38 1.12 1.75 Swing Not contested New party 0.3%   Seventh party   PBDS Baru Leader Patrick Uren Party Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak Baru Alliance - Last election New party Seats before 0 Seats won 0 Seat change Popular vote 1,244 Percentage 0.17 Swing New party

Chief Minister before election Adenan Satem Barisan Nasional Chief Minister-designate Adenan Satem Barisan Nasional

The eleventh Sarawak state election was held on Saturday, 7 May 2016 after nomination for candidates on Monday, 25 April 2016. The 82 members of the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly, were elected in single-member constituencies using first-past-the-post voting. More than 1.1 million who had their names entered or retained in an electoral register for a particular electoral district in Sarawak was eligible to vote at the time of the election. Malaysia does not practice compulsory voting and automatic voter registration. The voting age is 21 although the age of majority in the country is 18. The election was conducted by the Election Commission of Malaysia.

The Sarawak State Legislative Assembly would automatically dissolve on 20 June 2016, the fifth anniversary of the first sitting, and elections must be held within ninety days (three months) of the dissolution (on or before 20 September 2016, with the date to be decided by the Election Commission), unless dissolved prior to that date by the Head of State (Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak) on the advice of the Head of Government (Chief Minister of Sarawak).

The previous state election was held at 2011. The state assemblymen is elected to 5 years term each. It is expected to be the most hotly contested election in Sarawak's poll history. At the previous election, the opposition coalition Pakatan Rakyat made historic gains by doubling its State Assembly seats, while the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional retained a two-third majority. ^[1]

Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem has unexpectedly announced that 18 April will possibly be the nomination day and 30 April the polling day for the 11th Sarawak state election. Adenan was addressing a pre-election seminar for PBB’s Satok branch at a seaside resort here at about 9pm yesterday when he made the announcement. “I have already met the Election Commission (EC) and decided to set 18 April as nomination day and polling day on 30 April,” he reportedly said at the seminar, speaking in Bahasa Malaysia.^[2] However, Adenan said the final decision was up to the Election Commission. ^[3]

On 14 April, the Election Commission announced that the election will be held on 7 May, with 12 days of campaigning and the nomination day set on 25 April. The legislative assembly was dissolved on Monday, 11 April.^[4]

List of candidates by party

Analysis of previous election results

Proposed Sarawak electoral districts

A proposal by the Election Commission to increase the number of state seats from 71 to 82 was challenged in the High Court and nullified. However this was overturn by a Court of Appeal reasoning that the increase in seats would not breach voters' constitutional rights and was in accordance with the 13th Schedule of the Federal Constitution.^[5]

The composition of seats by ethnic majority consists of 21 Iban-majority seats, 20 Malay-majority seats, 16 Chinese-majority seats, 9 Melanau-majority seats, 8 Bidayuh-majority seats, 6 Orang Ulu-majority seats and 2 Kedayan-majority seats.

Campaign

Barisan Nasional campaign posters in Sibu.

Sarawak DAP Grand Finale campaign in Sibu.

The Sarawak state government was alleged to have abused their power, by banning several opposition MPs and members from entering the state during campaigning, as under Section 67 of the Immigration Act, a person cannot be denied entry into Sarawak if the visit was “for the sole purpose of engaging in legitimate political activity”.^[6][7] Opposition leaders like Lim Guan Eng and Azmin Ali were allowed into the state on a temporary basis to campaign during the election period but were told to leave after five days.^[8]

Barisan

Breakaway parties such as TERAS and UPP have their members contest seats under the Barisan banner as direct election candidates under a deal by Adenan Satem after their parties were prevented from joining Barisan after opposition from parties such as SUPP and SPDP.^[9] Candidates from Barisan have been seen handing out money, foodstuffs and other election goodies to potential voters.^[10][11] The government is also trying to tie the election to the development of the state such as upgrading roads and building the Pan-Borneo Highway.^[12]

Opposition

Due to disagreements in contesting several seats between both DAP and PKR, both parties would be facing each other and Barisan in 6 multi-cornered fights in Batu Kitang, Mulu, Murum, Simanggang, Ngemah and Mambong.^[13] The opposition has brought up the issue of minimum wage being lower in Sarawak compared to Peninsula Malaysia and that many younger Sarawakians were migrating to Peninsula Malaysia and Singapore for better job opportunities.^[14]

Results

Two seats were won by Barisan Nasional uncontested, which are Bukit Kota and Bukit Sari,^[15][16] due to several issues with the opposition.

Results by party

Enrolled voters		1,139,647	Votes cast	778,819	Turnout			66.13 %
Did not vote		360,828	Informal votes	25,127	Informal			3.33 %
Party			Party leader	# of candidates	Seats					Popular vote
					2011	Dissolution	Elected	%	Change	#	%	Change
	Barisan Nasional	BN	Adenan Satem	82	55	45	72	87.80	17	466,953	61.96	+6.6
	Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu	PBB	Adenan Satem	39	35	35	39	47.56	4
	Sarawak United Peoples' Party	SUPP	Sim Kui Hian	13	6	2	7	8.54	1
	Parti Rakyat Sarawak	PRS	James Jemut Masing	11	8	8	11	13.41	3
	Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party	SPDP	Tiong King Sing	6	6	0	4	4.88	2
	Barisan Nasional-Direct	BN-Direct		13	-	-	11	8.54
	Pakatan Harapan	PH					10		5
	Democratic Action Party	DAP	Chong Chieng Jen	31	12	11	7	8.54	5	145,873	19.35	-0.7
	People's Justice Party	PKR	Baru Bian	40	3	3	3	3.66		76,003	10.08	-7.3
	National Trust Party	AMANAH	Mohammad Fidzuan Zaidi	13	N/A	N/A	0	0.00	-	8,433	1.12	-
	Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party	PAS	Jofri Jaraiee	11	0	0	0	0.00		13,210	1.75	+0.3
	State Reform Party	STAR	Lina Soo	10	0	1	0	0.00		2,841	0.38	-
	Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak Baru	PBDS Baru	Patrick Uren	5	N/A	N/A	0	0.00	-	1,244	0.17	-
	Independent			36	1	1	0	0.00	-1	39,135	5.19	+2.2
Total				229	71	71	82	100.00		753,692	100.00

Results by Seats

Government formation

Adenan Satem formed the state cabinet after being invited by Abdul Taib Mahmud to begin a new government following 7 May 2016 state election in Sarawak. To be the Chief Minister, Adenan sworn in before the Yang di-Pertua Negeri at 10.00 p.m. Malaysia Standard Time on 7 May 2016 at The Astana, Sarawak.^[17]

References

• "Sarawak State Election To See 226 Candidates Contesting 80 Seats". BERNAMA. 25 April 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2016. 

External links

• 11th Sarawak State Election | Sarawak Info ~ Sarawak Information Portal
• myUNDI Sarawak

State elections in Malaysia
Kelantan	1978
Sabah	1964 (indirect) 1967 1971 1976 1981 1985 1986 1990 1994 1999 2004 2008 2013
Sarawak	1963 (indirect) 1969 1974 1979 1983 1987 1991 1996 2001 2006 2011 2016
Selangor	2013 Next
Singapore	1963

Elections in Malaysia since 2000
General elections	Year 2004 2008 2013 Next Election Results 11th 12th 13th
State elections	State/Year Sarawak 2001 Sabah 2004 Sarawak 2006 Sabah 2008 Sarawak 2011 Sabah 2013 Sarawak 2016 Election Results 12th 13th
Parliamentary by-elections	Permatang Pauh 2008 Kuala Terengganu 2009 Bukit Gantang 2009 Hulu Selangor 2010 Sibu 2010 Batu Sapi 2010 Bukit Gelugor 2014 Teluk Intan 2014 Rompin 2015 Permatang Pauh 2015 Sungai Besar 2016 Kuala Kangsar 2016
State assemblies by-elections	Sanggang 2000 Lunas 2000 Pahang 2001 Indera Kayangan 2002 Ketari 2002 Kuala Berang 2004 Ba'Kelalan 2004 Pengkalan Pasir 2005 Batu Talam 2007 Machap 2007 Ijok 2007 Bukit Selambau 2009 Batang Air 2009 Penanti 2009 Manek Urai 2009 Permatang Pasir 2009 Bagan Pinang 2009 Galas 2010 Tenang 2011 Merlimau 2011 Kerdau 2011 Kuala Besut 2013 Sungai Limau 2013 Kajang 2014 Balingian 2014 Pengkalan Kubor 2014 Chempaka 2015

Elections in Malaysia
General elections	1955 1959 1964 1969 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1995 1999 2004 2008 2013 next by-elections
State elections	1954 1955 1959 1963 1964 1967 1969 1971 1974 1976 1978 1979 1981 1982 1983 1985 1986 1987 1990 1991 1994 1995 1996 1999 2001 2004 2006 2008 2011 2013 2016 by-elections
Local elections	1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965
See also: Elections in Johor Kedah Kelantan Kuala Lumpur Labuan Malacca Negeri Sembilan Pahang Penang Perak Perlis Putrajaya Sabah Sarawak Selangor Terengganu