Malaysia Today

'Young voters will decide results of Sarawak polls'

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Monday, 01 September 2008 10:04

(NST) - The rural folk and the young middle-class group will have a big say in the 2011 Sarawak state elections, said a political analyst. As most parts of the state are still underdeveloped, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak head of Politics and International Relations Department Dr Neilson Ilan Mersat said it was crucial for any political party to garner support from voters in the rural areas to do well in the elections. He said the people in Sarawak had a different set of priorities from those in Peninsular Malaysia. "In Sarawak, basic needs like roads, water supply and electricity are still the main issues, but this is not the case in the peninsula. "But with the number of new young middle-class voters coming up, the political parties should also make themselves relevant to this group," he said after participating in a forum on "Malaysian Political Change and Course: Sarawak Perspective" at the Islamic Information Centre on Friday. Neilson said the political changes in the peninsula were a good example of the power young middle-class voters had in deciding the outcome of elections. He felt that Penang, Selangor, Perak and Kedah had fallen to the Pakatan Rakyat in the March general election because the Barisan Nasional had focused less on the younger middle-class group.