DAP picking up speed, allies still groping

The 'Rocket' is soaring high in the Sarawak skies as the DAP presses ahead with its drive to rope in Chinese voters.

KUCHING: The DAP is fast gaining momentum in its drive to woo voters especially in the urban areas where the Chinese are in the majority.

On the third day of the campaign, the DAP is even overtaking its allies PKR and PAS in the race to capture the Chinese-majority constituencies.

Its nightly ceramahs are drawing huge crowds, which some political observers say even surpassed any seen in previous state elections.

The message the DAP leaders are delivering seems to find ready acceptance among the electorate. Their main line of attack is the long tenure of Chief Minister Taib Mahmud and his reportedly fabulous wealth. Other smaller issues include quit rents.

The DAP is the only opposition party in the state that is holding up well against the Barisan Nasional (BN) onslaught. PKR and PAS are still groping their way among the Sarawakians.

The Chinese in Sarawak are mostly into business and are self-reliant. They only depend on the government for licences, education, infrastructure facilities and a conducive business environment.

The state government has been meeting all these needs and so the main issue is Taib himself.

The DAP has been hammering away at Taib since the Sibu parliamentary by-election last year and has never let up since then.

The party is contesting 15 urban Chinese-majority seats while PKR is battling for 49 seats and PAS five.

Vulnerable Taib

The Chinese-majority seats that the DAP is confident of capturing are Dudong, Piasau, Pujut, Senadin, Kidurong, Padungan, Pending, Batu Lintang, Batu Kawa, Sentosa, Repok, Meradong, Bukit Assek, Bawang Assan and Pelawan.

Taib knows that he is vulnerable in all these seats as the resentment against him has been building up since the 2008 general election. It picked up speed after the Sibu parliamentary polls which saw the DAP triumphed.

Taib has announced his intention of leaving the political arena after the state polls but this did not seem to convince the Chinese and the DAP.

The DAP aims to win all the 15 seats it is contesting but locals said the party would probably get nine to 12.

Twelve of the 15 seats which have more than 60% Chinese voters are Padungan (91.79%), Pending (90.4%), Batu Lintang (84.47%), Batu Kawa (60.08%), Kota Sentosa (77.15%), Repok (77.47%), Meradong (60.11%), Bukit Assek (94.95%), Bawang Assan (62.25%), Pelawan (90.82%), Piasau (65%), and Pujut (65.95%).

The other three seats are Dudong (53.23%), Senadin (49.6%) and Kidurong (50.69%).

The DAP is standing on firmer ground than PKR and PAS. The latter two realised this and are “jumping on the DAP bandwagon”. - FMT