Today marks the fifth day of the Sarawak election campaign, with another five more days to go before polling takes place on 16th April 2011. Over the past four days of campaigning, the DAP and Pakatan Rakyat were received with enthusiasm and unprecedented crowds. From Sibu to Sarikei, the tremendous groundswell of support has demonstrated the most encouraging indications as yet.
But now, this state election campaign has entered an entirely different phase with Prime Minister Najib Razak taking over the reins from Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud. With Najib joining the fray, this now morphs into an election of national proportions – with the entire Federal Cabinet and government machinery at Barisan Nasional’s disposal.
While such a move shows that Barisan Nasional was caught off-guard by the surge of support for Pakatan Rakyat’s battle for change in the first four days of the campaign, the entry of Najib and the national Barisan Nasional campaign apparatus threatens to end the would-be Sarawak spring prematurely.