MIDDLE CLASS, UMNO AND INTELLIGENTSIA: CONTESTING THE MUSLIM BUMIPUTERA S POLITICAL DOMINATION IN SARAWAK

The ruling Barisan Nasional started to dominate Sarawak politics after the Muslim bumiputera took over the state leadership from the Iban after the 1970 elections. Under the stewardship of the Muslim bumiputera, Barisan Nasional had successfully dominated every state and parliamentary elections held since 1970 to 2008. Although the opposition parties launched a strong challenge towards the Muslim bumiputera s dominance in the late 1970s and middle 1980s, the latter was able to fend off this challenge and continued to uphold the ruling party s grip on the state with the largest number of state and parliamentary seats. This article analyses the Muslim bumiputera s dominance in Sarawak politics and the factors that had contributed to over four decades of domination. Despite this domination, new sources of contestation have emerged, namely the middle class, United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and the intelligentsia. This article analyses the contestation instigated by these forces and its impact on Sarawak politics particularly the leadership of Muslim bumiputera.