KUCHING, March 3 — The Pakatan Harapan (PH) national leadership should make it a point to fulfill the promises made in the 14th general election before Sarawak holds its state election due in 2021, Sarawak PH chairman Chong Chieng Jen said today.
He said the PH’s defeat in Semenyih by-election yesterday and last month’s Cameron Highlands parliamentary by-elections should serve as a wake-up call.
“One of the reasons for the defeats in these two by-elections is the unfulfilled promises made in the GE14 manifesto, but of course, there is some rationalisation to say that we have only been in the government for nine months,” Chong told reporters after chairing the state DAP liaison committee meeting here.
He said some of the pledges made in GE14 are difficult to deliver, but nevertheless, more efforts have to be made by the PH federal government to honour their election manifesto.
“So those are the things that have to be looked into by the PH government, to buck up and put in more efforts to deliver our election promises,” he said.
Chong, who is also the Deputy Minister of the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, said the two by-elections showed the dangerous trends in Malaysian politics where racial and religious issues were raised to win support by the Opposition Barisan Nasional and PAS leaders.
“In every election, there are bound to have things like these that will be raised, but our struggle is along the agenda that cuts across all race and religion,” he said when asked if racial and religious issues will play an important role in deciding the outcome of the Sarawak state election.
Chong, who is also the Stampin MP, said the state party is making an early preparation to face the state election.
“The state liaison committee has discussed in-depth our preparation leading up to the state election and step up our cooperation with our three component parties,” he said.
He said negotiation on the allocation of seats among the state DAP, PKR, Amanah and Parti Pribumi, has been put on hold for the time being as election preparation is more important.
“But there will be some adjustment in the seats to be contested by DAP, PKR and Amanah after the entry of Parti Pribumi in Sarawak,” he said.
He said each DAP’s lawmakers will be assigned to take care of several rural areas or seats which the party has never won before.
Chong said the state DAP will also extend its assistance in areas to be contested by other PH parties.
