KUCHING, Dec 12: State Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Chong Chieng Jen is unperturbed over the “cold water” from Barisan Nasional (BN) minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahmah Hamzah saying that the opposition is overconfident about winning 10 seats in the upcoming polls.
“He (Abdul Karim) is so fast to pour cold water; whether we can win big, we will let the voters decide,” Chong told reporters.
Abdul Karim, who is Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister, had reportedly advised PH Sarawak to not be over-confident with regards to its outlook for the next parliamentary election.
“It’s always good to make predictions, but the final say is from the ‘rakyat’ (people) and voters,” he said, pointing out that PH Sarawak might lose more seats than the ones they won in the 13th general election (GE13).
“The voters are getting smarter – they know who can look after them better.”
In response to Abdul Karim’s statement, Chong said that Sarawak cannot afford another five to 10 years under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s rule and the issue is to change the government to bring the change the people eagerly wanted.
“PBB (Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu) is the biggest party in Sarawak but the party is nothing compared to UMNO in national politics and has to ‘kaotao’ (bow down) to UMNO; SUPP (Sarawak United Peoples’ Party) is even worse and negligible,” he said.
On Saturday, Chong, who is also Bandar Kuching MP and state DAP chairman, told reporters at a press conference that PH Sarawak was confident of winning at least 10 seats in GE14.
He said the opposition coalition had done rounds of survey on the ground, with the majority of the feedback conveying the people’s dissatisfaction over the bad economy and rising costs of living.
In GE13, the opposition won six parliamentary seats in Sarawak, with DAP securing Bandar Kuching, Stampin, Sarikei, Lanang and Sibu, and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) claiming Miri. — DayakDaily
