Deny BN two-thirds majority in Sarawak, Guan Eng tells voters

Barisan Nasional currently holds the majority of state seats in Sarawak, but DAP says the ruling coalition must be denied another strong victory in the upcoming state election. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, February 1, 2016.​

Sarawak Barisan Nasional (BN) can only change if voters there deny Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem a strong victory, DAP said today.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said the ruling coalition must be denied a strong victory in the upcoming Sarawak election to remind Adenan  to stand up to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is also BN chairman.

Lim said Sarawak had been treated like one of the country's 14 states rather than one of the three entities that formed the Federation of Malaysia.

"Only with a strong opposition in the state, Adenan can tell the federal government to agree or they will lose. To strengthen Sarawak, (the way) is to let them know that they can lose.

"You give him (Adenan) a strong victory, he will go along with Najib. He won't be standing up to the federal government," Lim told reporters after presenting a RM1.13 million allocation to 11 Chinese secondary schools at Komtar in Penang today.

Lim, who is also Penang chief minister, said DAP was aiming to have a bigger impact in the Bornean state and the opposition's aim should be to deny BN a two-thirds majority in the state legislative assembly.

"They have 82 state seats. To achieve that, we must win 28. Of course, we (Pakatan Harapan) will have to go to the rural seats," he said.

DAP has so far performed better in urban seats.

It had been reported that Pakatan Harapan, which includes PKR and Parti Amanah Negara, would be contesting for all 82 seats against BN.

In the last state election, BN won 55 out of 71 state seats. In the latest redelineation exercise, 11 new seats were introduced.

Lim said Adenan had only been talking when he warned the federal government not to take advantage of Sarawak, and challenged him to contest without the BN symbol.

"Since he had said not to take Sarawak for granted, then don't stand under BN. Use you own party symbol," he said, referring to Adenan's Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu.

Sarawak is due to call its 11th state election early this year. Adenan recently announced the election date in advance with nomination day on April 18 and polling on April 30.

The early announcement is a departure from the norm of his predecessors, who kept the date secret until much later. Analysts said this indicated Adenan was confident of a big win.

- TMI