Komunikasi Politik di Negeri Sarawak: Analisis Wacana Kritis Terhadap Manifesto Parti Politik dalam Pilihan Raya Negeri Sarawak 2021

An election manifesto reflects the vision of a political party in its effort to gain support from potential voters to win seats. Most political parties will produce manifestoes that promise development projects to drive the country’s economy, provide employment opportunities as well as combat abuse of power. The 2021 Sarawak State Election (SSE21) was an election that attracted the attention of state and federal observers. For the first time, the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) was contesting after the disbandment of Sarawak Barisan Nasional (BN) in 2018. In addition, it was also the first election for the new Sarawak Chief Minister, Abang Johari Openg. SSE21 was the first battleground for several Sarawak nationalist parties such as Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) and Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK). Using critical discourse analysis, this article aims to analyse the content of GPS, PSB and PBK’s manifestoes. The focus of this study is the issue of state nationalism, state development and inter-ethnic relations presented in the manifesto.