Can BN's 'A-Team' keep the Opposition's onslaught at bay?

Decision time has finally dawn upon the citizens of Sarawak.

With less than 24 hours to Polling Day, the election heat in the Land of the Hornbills finally reaches fever pitch.

Whether you are in the rural heartlands or in the bustling cities, by now, surely you have heard of the fierce battle between Barisan Nasional (BN) and its adversaries, component parties of Pakatan Harapan (PH), either on the television, through the newspapers and online portals or via the social media.

Let us not forget about PAS which is ambitious enough to nominate 11 candidates this time around despite not winning any seats back in 2011 when it was part of PH's spiritual predecessor Pakatan Rakyat.

Their confidence in 'giving birth' to the party's first elected member of the Sarawak state assembly stems from a more organised campaign as well as the advantage of not being aligned to BN or Pakatan Harapan.



Nevertheless, it is clear from the start of the campaign, the real battle is between the well-oiled election machinery of BN against the relentless march of PH, mainly DAP and PKR, with their junior member Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) providing more colour to the much storied quest for power in Sarawak.

For BN, it is clear, by getting an increased majority in terms of the number of seats as well as a higher percentage of popular votes, it would have done enough damage to the Opposition.

The damage could have long lasting effects to the point of jeopardising PH's grand plan of capturing Putrajaya in the 14th General Elections in two years time.

Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem has been given the trust to set up the 'Adenan's Team' (or A-Team, as I called it) and so far, things have been going well for the very popular top man of the Sarawak state government.

With two uncontested seats in the bag, Adenan is 68 seats away from achieving his target of 70 seats.

In order to gain enough seats to reach the magic number, the 'A-Team' would have to maintain the 55 seats they have won in the previous elections, win all 11 new seats and wrest four seats from the Opposition.

If this happens, then BN would have gained 85 percent of the state assembly, a figure too high, judging on the current political climate.

However, based from the responses Adenan is getting from all over the state, this feat is not impossible.

With his ratings well over 80 percent among the Sarawakians, it is wise of Adenan to put himself as the face of Sarawak BN.

Whether this high ratings would translate into votes is another matter altogether.

So far, Adenan's calls for greater autonomy and initiatives receives good response from the people in the state and this presents a major headache for the Opposition.



Other than the issue of Opposition leaders being banned from entry into Sarawak, PH is left with almost nothing to coordinate their attack from.

They can spew rhetorics on the issue of Native Customary Rights (NCR) Lands or the oil royalty but the fact of the matter remains, the Adenan administration has initiated steps towards resolving those issues.

This has led the Opposition to train their guns on the much maligned Goods and Services Tax (GST) which is close to the hearts of the people as it involves their wallets.

It worked so far to the point of presenting the 'A-Team' a challenge but how far it would sway the votes all around the state still remains to be seen.

Coupled with the overlapping of six state seats between PKR and DAP, the Opposition has their work cut out for them this time around.

Despite trying their best to improve on their performance from 2011, PH's best bet is to work together and present a united front.

That didn't happen.

Their best bet at putting a dent in BN's armor is to deny them two-thirds majority in this election and it could only be achieved by working together in all the seats, not just in a majority of the seats.

It is clear who will win this battle once the dust settles tomorrow night.

However, what is yet to be certain is how many members of the Opposition will be left standing to face the 'A-Team' in the state assembly for the next five years.