BN’s Joseph Mauh has been caught red-handed on a double election cheat.  He not only promised a poor Headman RM 10,000 to gain his vote, but then the cheque bounced!

In this way Mauh cheated his constituents twice.  Firstly he cheated them of their right to a free vote by bribing the Headman, which is an exceedingly serious crime.  Secondly, he didn’t even carry out his promised payment to a poor community.

You could say that a person who takes a bribe in exchange for their most precious freedom, the freedom to choose their rulers and lawmakers, deserve what they get.  But, of course such communities agrees to these bribes because the treacherous BN government has kept them so poor and desperate.

The police must act to arrest election criminals

Sarawak Report assumes that now this incontrovertible evidence has been placed before them, the police will move immediately to detain and question Joseph Muah.  Likewise, the Election Commission should suspend the result of the election.

If the evidence is proved (and it should be done quickly) then there should be a re-election.  In the light of this abuse, other similar claims across the length and breadth of Sarawak should also be investigated.  We are not talking about ‘opposition troublemakers’ we are talking about a respected and appointed Headman, who voted for BN!

Joseph Muah, if found guilty faces the most serious criminal charge of election fraud.  This is the testimony of the Headman against him:

“My name is Kuching ak Moyan and i am one of the headmen in Tamin constituency. In the just concluded State election, i was given three cheques, one for RM2,000, another for RM3,000 and the third for RM5,000 by the Barisan Nasional candidate, Joseph Mauh.  I have cashed out the first two cheques, both for a total RM5,000 but the last one, for RM5,000, was bounced. So i sent it back to him and he promised that he will bank in the amount instead into my account. Up till today, i have not received the RM5,000. The three cheques were given to me on the 13th of April so that we will give our support to the Barisan Nasional. In the year 2006 State election, each voter here was given only RM20 but in this election, the amount was increased to RM50 per voter. There are 15 voters in this longhouse and all of them were given RM50 each. I think all of us have voted for Barisan Nasional. Ofcourse I know that the money the Barisan Nasional give to us would amount to nothing if the government grabbed our land. But what to do, we still have to vote for the government as the government has given us the money. Yes, i know we can just accept the Barisan Nasional money and vote for the opposition but since everybody else voted for Barisan Nasional this time, i decided to follow suit.”

Time to stop Sham Elections in Sarawak

This is just the beginning of the evidence about this election.  No wonder BN in KL was so worried about the election and so relieved at the outcome.  But likewise, no wonder Taib rushed in the middle of the night in the middle of the weekend to the Governor to get sworn back in before anyone could shout “Stop Thief!”

But if he hopes this is the end of the matter then the Chief Minister is older and stupider than even we realised.  The cheated voters of Sarawak are not going to take this sitting down.  Because the victory of the last election was that despite the bullying, bribes and cheating the opposition still managed to gather 45% of the vote!

Imagine what percentage would have gone to the opposition without the rigging and cheating and bribes?  The swings across the country were HUGE and they were away from BN in town and rural areas alike.

Imagine what the percentages would have been if all those half million native voters who Taib refuses to give voter registration to had been able to vote too?  This is why BN is worried.  They are an illegitimate government who stole the election and they deserve to be investigated and prosecuted and then punished with the full force of the law.

Sarawak Report is currently in Geneva, where this NGO is joining others who have been invited to speak at the UN about the problems over human rights and democracy in Sarawak.  We will present the case of this Headman and also the many others who have been cheated in this election.