Kit Siang: Pakatan just wants to dent BN armour, not topple Adenan

KUALA LUMPUR, April 19 — Lim Kit Siang said today that Pakatan Harapan is aware of the challenges it will face in the May 7 Sarawak polls and is only hoping to deny Barisan Nasional (BN) its customary two-thirds majority in the state legislative assembly.

The DAP veteran also agreed it would be difficult to topple Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem, whose approval ratings soared to 81 per cent this year from 74 per cent in 2015, according to Merdeka Center’s survey today.

“Well I think what’s very clear is that Adenan is going to return as CM. No doubt about that, and BN is going to form the next Sarawak state government after May 7.

“But that’s not the issue at stake, as no one is trying to topple Adenan and the Sarawak state government,” he told Malay Mail Online when contacted.

“The question here is to deny them the two-thirds state assembly majority… which is a very tall order by standard of Sarawak politics. It’s going to be very, very difficult,” the Gelang Patah MP added.

To deny BN its two-thirds majority, he said Pakatan Harapan parties would have to win at least 28 seats of the 82 seats up for contest, a feat made even more difficult by the multi-cornered fights they expect to face in the May 7 polls.

Lim said a one-on-one fight with BN would at the very least increase Pakatan Harapan’s chances of winning.

“But even with this, I am not very sure if we can reach 28 seats but a multi-cornered fight would make it impossible,” he added.

On Merdeka Center’s survey today, Lim noted that the independent pollster’s findings also suggested that voters in the hornbill state want a bigger opposition voice in their state assembly.

“There is a need for stronger check and balance because the history of Malaysian politics has shown the need for this, to avoid abuse of power which is so easy to happen when there is an overwhelming majority,” he said.

Merdeka Center’s survey found that over 81 per cent of Sarawakians questioned between January 20 and 26 this year were satisfied with Adenan’s performance.

Adenan is seeking a mandate for the state BN in his first election as CM after succeeding the office mid-term in February two years ago.

The survey, also found that 47 per cent of out 815 respondents were unsatisfied with the Sarawak opposition’s performance.

However, the majority of respondents agreed that the opposition should have a stronger voice in the Sarawak state assembly.