Sarawak DAP to fly 'rocket', PKR and Amanah to use 'eye'

The three Sarawak Pakatan Harapan coalition members will be using two different symbols for GE14.

It was announced today that the DAP will continue to use their rocket symbol while coalition partners PKR and Amanah will be using the blue-eyed symbol of the PKR party.

Speaking at a press conference at the DAP party headquarters in Kuching today, state Harapan chairperson Chong Chieng Jen said this was a joint decision made by the parties concerned.

He said they had decided to maximise their respective chances of victory in the areas they would be contesting as the areas in the state are different from that of Peninsular Malaysia.

“This decision made by us here, in Sarawak, means that the Harapan coalition has full autonomy in deciding matters concerning party policies in the state.

In the same breath, Chong also threw a challenge to BN’s SUPP to use its three-ring symbol rather than the “dacing” emblem of the BN for
GE14.

According to him, if SUPP couldn't even use their own logo but would have to rely on the “dacing” logo, then it only went to show that their election strategies were dictated by their “[...] big brother Umno in Semenanjung”.

'Well-recognised'

On Saturday, SUPP party president Dr Sim Kui Hian came under fire from Sarawak Harapan leaders for ridiculing DAP’s concession to contest GE14 under the PKR flag in the peninsula.

He had said “[...] DAP sudah hilang (DAP has disappeared) after so many years, after 60 years, they hilang, they start joining PKR,” when speaking to reporters at the KD Indera Sakti open day in Kuching.

Chong’s special assistant Dr Kelvi Yii told Malaysiakini the usage of the rocket logo for Sarawak was a strategic decision and was made after consultation with the grassroots.

“The rocket logo is well recognised, especially in the urban areas thus I think issues of confusion will be minimised if we choose to use another logo,” said Yii who is DAP's parliamentary candidate for Stampin.

He said the main consideration was “winnability” and they had decided to use the rocket symbol to increase their respective chances in the different areas they were contesting. - Mkini