SANDAKAN, May 11 — That Pakatan Harapan ended its losing streak in Sandakan today because the people believed in the collaboration between the state and federal government, and want a corruption-free government, said DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.
He said that their victory was also due to effort and influence of chief minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal who had worked with the federal coalition and mobilised the voters to come out and vote.
“We won despite the low turnout, the lies, despite the dirty tactics and the presence of ‘Bossku’ — the people want a clean government,” he said, referring to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak who came to stump for the opposition.
“This is the best birthday gift for our one year anniversary. The victory belongs to the people of Sandakan,” said Lim when speaking to reporters at the DAP office in Bandar Letat Jaya here.
Earlier the party declared themselves the winner after unofficial results puts their candidate Vivian Wong ahead by more than 50 per cent against a turnout of 54 per cent. At 8.30pm, DAP was ahead with 16,012 votes versus PBS’s Datuk Linda Tsen’s 4481.
“The campaign showed the solidarity of the Sabah government and federal government, also towards the coalition. This proves once again that only multi racial and religious coalition parties can govern Malaysia,” said Lim.
He said the party will work hard to give Sandakan what the people deserve, unlike in the past where only cronies benefited.
“The cooperation of all parties in this by election augurs well not just for this term but also the term after,” he said.
