This is the mid-point of the 12-day 11th Sarawak State General Election, and the four-prong strategy of the Sarawak Barisan Nasional campaign must not be underestimated as seven of the 13 seats carved out of the 12 State Assembly seats won by the DAP in the last general elections are in the “danger list” for the May 7 poll.
The four-prong strategy of the Sarawak Barisan Nasional election offensive are:
1. The Adenan effect.
2. The Najib effect.
3. Politics of Money.
4. Politics of Fear and Intimidation.
The Sarawak DAP strategy in the 11th Sarawak State General Elections are two-fold:
(I) to defend and win the 13 State Assembly seats carved out of the 12 DAP seats won in the last general elections; and to achieve a breakthrough by winning a few of the Dayak-dominated seats in the other 18 constituencies contested by the DAP;
(2) to prepare Sarawak DAP for a major plan to win the Sarawak State Government in the 12th Sarawak State General Election in 2021 if the DAP succeeds in demonstrating that it is not only capable of defending its state assembly seats in the urban areas in Kuching, Sibu, Sarikei, Bintangor, Bintulu and Miri but also to get support outside the urban areas like Tasik Biru, Mambong, Serian, Simanggang, Pakan, Mulu and Murum.
It would be a major setback if the DAP makes a breakthrough in the rural areas but suffers setback in the urban areas, by losing several of the 13 seats which had been carved out of the 12 DAP State Assembly seats.
Seven of these 13 seats are in the “danger list” in the mid-point of the campaign, and there is an urgent need for DAP supporters and voters to give fully mobilise and support Sarawak DAP’s five-year plan, together with other like-minded Sarawakians, to aim for Sarawak State power in the 12th Sarawak State General Elections in 2021.
In Batu Kitang, for instance, although the DAP candidate, Abdul Aziz Isa, is in the lead, there is the danger of the Barisan Nasional candidate slip in to grab victory because of split Opposition votes.
The challenge is whether the DAP election campaign machinery could reach out to all the Opposition voters of Batu Lintang to impress on them on the importannce of uniting their votes behind the DAP candidate and not to split their votes to allow the Barisan Nasional candidate to slip in.
Similarly, there should be a general mobilisation of support to ensure that the DAP can defend all the 13 seats carved out of the 12 DAP State assembly constituencies won in the last general election, to pave the way for the major DAP Sarawak plan for the 12th Sarawak general election to aim for Sarawak state power with a breakthrough by winning several Dayak-dominated seats on May 7.
(Media Conference Statement at the Meradong Operations Centre on Saturday, 30th April 2016 at 12 noon)