SIBU: Sarawak DAP has appointed Sibu MP Oscar Ling as its campaign director for the 15th General Election (GE15).
He said the coming general election would not be an easy one for the party.
Ling attributed this to its dismal showing in the Sarawak, Melaka and Johor state elections.
He was also concerned that inflation and its effects on the economy would further affect voter turnout, with the people busy making ends meet and having no time to follow political developments.
"Coupled with concerns about the pandemic, the number of people who came out to vote (in the state elections) was much lower than before... the turnout was a record low," he said.
He noted that, while Undi18 and automatic voter registration would add about 5.8 million new voters to the electoral roll, "If these first-time voters are not keen to vote, it will further reduce the turnout percentage."
In Ling's opinion, urban constituencies may see an average of just 50% voter turnout in GE15 with a higher turnout in rural areas because of the prevalence of money politics.
Ling said the challenge now was to restore the people's confidence in Malaysian democracy, and generate enthusiasm to vote among the youth.
In a statement on Thursday (June 9), Ling said his appointment was made by state party chairman Chong Chieng Jen.
"As campaign director, I will be responsible for formulating and deploying the Sarawak campaign mechanism and strategy," he said, expressing his gratitude for the party's confidence in him.
"It can be seen that after the Sheraton Move and Covid-19 pandemic, many people have (become) disappointed with politics.
"The practice of voting every five years is also getting meaningless to the people.
There were also concerns that people coming back from overseas to vote would drop because of travel requirements in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"To appeal to everyone to come home to vote, we must show the country's urgent need of their ballots to bring about change," he said.
Nonetheless, he was confident the party could meet these challenges by demonstrating that the people's interests are the starting point for all its efforts.
In GE14 in 2018, DAP won six out of the nine seats it contested in Sarawak.
