'Chinese voting trend bad news for BN in Sibu'

PAS secretary-general Mustafa Ali (pic) has predicted a disastrous by-election outcome in Sibu on May 16 for recently-victorious Barisan Nasional, provided the voting trend of the Chinese electorate in West Malaysia is repeated there.

"If the (voting) sentiment in Sarawak is the same as in the peninsula, BN is going to find it hard in Sibu," Mustafa, the former PAS election chairman, told reporters here.

The recent by-election in Hulu Selangor saw Chinese majority areas overwhelmingly voting for Parti Keadilan Rakyat's Zaid Ibrahim, who lost to P Kamalanathan of BN by a majority of 1,725 votes. A six-fold increase in Chinese support from the last general election was also seen in Kuala Kubu.

The next by-election, the eleventh since the 2008 general election, is being called in Sibu following the death of its MP Robert Lau Hoi Chew on April 9, who had won the seat by a margin of 3,235 against PKR and DAP candidates, both from Pakatan Rakyat. This time around, PR top leaders have endorsed DAP to represent the opposition coalition.

BN will be fielding Lau's second cousin Robert Lau Hui Yew against Sarawak DAP chairman and veteran politician Wong Ho Leng.

The Sibu constituency has 60 per cent Chinese voters, something Mustafa said worries BN leaders, especially with the almost total rejection of BN by Chinese voters in recent times.

Such a trend has led recently-launched right-wing Malay group Perkasa to lash at Chinese voters for not supporting BN, demanding that development funds be stopped to Chinese-majority areas. -Harakah