LUNDU, April 25 ― Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak rallied Barisan Nasional’s (BN) troops in Sarawak today at the kick-off of the state’s 11th elections, expressing confidence in the pact’s ability to recapture the hornbill state again with a comfortable victory.

Najib, who is also BN chairman, said the pact is “expected” to secure a victory and that the win is crucial to boost confidence for the 14th general election in two years.

“It will be a precursor to the GE 14. Certainly it will add confidence (of BN) for the outcome of GE 14,” he told reporters here after accompanying Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem file his nomination papers for the Sarawak state election.

“But it is not a guarantee. Obviously we will not take it for granted. We will still have to win in all the other states, but Sarawak is really important to us and with the expected success in Sarawak, it will certainly form a very strong momentum for us moving forward towards GE 14.”

At the end of nomination today, PKR and DAP were revealed to be challenging each other in six seats for the May 7 Sarawak election, after the two Pakatan Harapan allies failed to agree on seat distributions, giving an added advantage to BN candidates in these seats.

Earlier, Najib said the two parties’ inability to achieve consensus was indication of their inability to effectively govern together.

Sarawak has the highest number of parliamentary seats of all the states with 31 constituencies, and is considered a “safe-deposit” for ruling party BN.

The state has been identified as a key battleground for the next general election due by 2018.