KUCHING, Dec 12 — Pakatan Harapan (PH) Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen has urged voters to support the coalition’s component parties as the true, genuine and credible opposition in the state.
Chong, who is also Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak chairman, made this call to rally voters behind candidates from PH chosen to contest in their various constituencies.
“If you are a DAP supporter and a candidate from our political ally Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) is contesting in your constituency, please give the candidate your support,” said Chong during a solidarity press conference together with candidates from PH’s component parties, namely DAP, PKR and Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah).
Chong wondered if voters might be confused with many different opposition parties contesting in this 12th Sarawak state election but held up PH Sarawak as the opposition that has stayed true to its cause.
“In this election, as you all know, there are many so called opposition parties contesting in the state elections and, in many constituencies, you can see many four, five or even more cornered-fights among candidates.”
He observed that the emergence of other opposition parties might split opposition voters in this election.
“Some of the other opposition parties are already failing out of the race so votes for them will only be a waste. We should concentre our votes for the three opposition parties under PH,” said Chong at DAP Sarawak headquarters here.
He said PH component parties — DAP, PKR and Amanah — had a long-established history and they have gone through multiple elections. ”Win or lose in the elections, we are here to speak for the people and to fight for the rights of our people,” he pledged.
Chong conceded that PH might not have done enough during their 22 months in power but it was not fair to judge their performance when they were originally given a mandate to serve a five-year term.
“We call on the people to understand the situation that we have only 22 months to try to repair the damage done to the country over the 55 years of the Barisan National (BN) rule.”
PH, he added, had tried its best during the short stint in power such as keeping a low inflation rate, implementing reform and bringing former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to court.
“At this moment, Najib remains as a convict. If there is no change in government (in 2018), Najib will still be the prime minister, and all the dirt, corruption and the people’s money gone into 1MDB will still be swept under the carpet.”
Chong asked voters not to give Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) coalition a ‘blank cheque’ in spending the state’s financial resources, especially by looking at the ways caretaker Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg has been managing the state’s money.
“Although our five-year term tenure was shortened to 22 months, we must maintain our struggle for political reform because this is our country and we cannot allow Umno, PAS and BN to continue to do damage to our country.”
On a separate note, Chong refuted a statement by GPS chief whip Datuk Sri Fadillah Yusof claiming the then PH federal government had cancelled many projects in the state.
“For example, the Pan Borneo Highway project costs about RM18 billion but when we terminated the project delivery partner, the project is still being carried out. It is just that the ‘middle person’ has been terminated.”
He said the measure by the PH government had cut the cost of the project by about RM 3 billion and the money saved was channelled back to the state for the Trans-Borneo Highway project, linking Sarawak, Sabah, Brunei and Kalimantan, Indonesia.
Chong also pointed out the development allocation received by Sarawak under the current Perikatan Nasional (PN) government was proportionately less compared to the amount received during PH government. — Borneo Post
