Guan Eng: East Malaysian voters to determine outcome of GE13

By Lisa J. Ariffin

December 13, 2011

 

SHAH ALAM, Dec 13 — East Malaysian voters will determine whether Barisan Nasional (BN) or Pakatan Rakyat (PR) forms the next government, DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng said today.

“I would say to voters in Sabah and Sarawak: we don’t even need to win half the seats. If we can win one-third, this will threaten BN,” Lim (picture) told a political forum organised by Sinar Harian here today.

“Now it is up to Pakatan Rakyat to convince the voters in Sabah and Sarawak,” he added.

However, Lim confidently said, “We can do so by looking at Selangor, Kedah, Kelantan and Penang ... We are better than Barisan Nasional.”

In Election 2008, BN lost its customary two-thirds majority in Parliament and also ceded five states to parties that later formed the PR pact.

The combined votes for PR parties, DAP, PAS and PKR, also outnumbered that of BN in Peninsula Malaysia.

But BN’s strong performance in the largely rural Sabah and Sarawak states ensured the coalition remained in power.

BN parties remain strong in the two East Malaysian states with the opposition DAP the only PR party making some headway in Sarawak in mainly urban seats.

Lim also pointed to the presence of “phantom voters’’ as another determining factor in the outcome of the next general elections.

“Phantom voters. Because they will determine who will win or lose,” Lim also suggested, prompting laughter and cheers from the crowd.

“That’s why we must make sure the election process is clean and fair, so we will not be led by a phantom government.”

Widespread discrepancies on official electoral rolls sparked street protests earlier this year with electoral reform movement Bersih 2.0 capturing public attention and becoming a significant pressure group.

The protests prompted Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to agree to the establishment of a parliamentary panel to look into electoral reforms.

He has also introduced a slew of reforms to security laws but a significant number of activists and opposition politicians remain unconvinced by the moves.