DAP took 24 years before trying to go for power in Penang State to form the Penang State Government.
DAP was formed in 1966, and the first time DAP declared its intention to form the Penang State Government was in the 1990 General Election when I led the campaign of “Tanjong 2” to go for power in the Penang State.
DAP did not succeed in the 1990 General Election, nor in the subsequent General Elections in 1995, 1999 and 2004; but we finally succeeded in the 2008 and 2013 General Elections, heading the Penang State Government under Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng for the past eight years.
In fact, in the “political tsunami” of the 2008 General Elections inspired by the first political “earthquake” caused by the 2006 Sarawak General Election which had started the series of political shocks and earthquakes in Sarawak and Malaysia in the past decade, Barisan Nasional lost power in five states – Penang, Selangor, Perak, Kedah and Kelantan.
Just as DAP took 24 years before trying to go for power in Penang State, Sarawak DAP is ready to go for power to form the Sarawak State Government in 2021 if DAP Sarawak makes headway in the May 7 polls in five days’ time.
Sarawak DAP was established 38 years ago in 1978, and DAP had contested in nine Sarawak state general elections since 1979 and eight parliamentary elections since 1982.
It was only in the fifth Sarawak state general elections contest in 1996 after 18 years ceaseless and heart-breaking toil and unremitting commitment that DAP Sarawak succeeded in the breakthrough to be represented in the Sarawak State Assembly although DAP Sarawak had an easier innings in at the parliamentary level – succeeding to secure the election of DAP Members of Parliament in Sarawak right from the first parliamentary elections contested by DAP in 1982.
And I am very glad that the very first Sarawak DAP MP to be elected, Ling Sie Ming who was elected MP for Sibu in 1982, is with us working day and night in Sibu to achieve a new DAP Sarawak breakthrough in the current election campaign.
After 38 years in Sarawak politics, nine Sarawak State Elections and eight Palriament elections, DAP Sarawak is ready to make a bid to form the Sarawak State Government together with like-minded Sarawakians in the 12th Sarawak state general elections in 2021, provided Sarawak DAP can make headway in its double objectives in the 11th Sarawak state general election in five days’ time.
These double objectives are for the people of Sarawak to continue to be in the vanguard for political change in Malaysia to “write history, create miracle” to defend the 12 seats won by the DAP five years ago as well as to achieve a new breakthrough by winning a few of the Dayak-dominated seats in the 31 constituencies contested by the DAP.
On Nomination Day on 25th April, I spent the first day of the Sarawak election campaign in Tasik Biru; on 26th April I was in Mambong; on 27th April in Serian where there are two seats, Bukit Semuja and Keduk; on 28th April in Simanggang and on the fifth day, I spent the night at the Rh Unjar longhouse in Pakan – an itinerary which bespeaks of our determination to achieve a new breakthrough in Sarawak and Malaysian politics to demonstrate that it is not just Kuching, Sibu, Sarikei, Bintangor, Bintulu and Miri who want political change and meaningful development, but vast areas in Sarawak outside the townships as well.
This is why Sarawak DAP has fielded 31 candidates – 14 Chinese, 16 Dayak (four Bidayuh, nine Iban and three Orang Ulu) and one Malay-Melanau.
If Sarawak DAP succeeds in its mission in the present Sarawak state general election to defend its Assembly seats in Kuching, Sibu, Sarikei, Bintangor, Bintulu and Miri and make a breakthrough to win a few seats in Tasik Biru, Mambong, Serian, Simanggang, Pakan, Mulu and Murum, then the stage will be set for a titanic battle in the 12th Sarawak state general election in five years’ time in 2021.
If DAP Sarawak can achieves in two objectives in the 11th Sarawak state general elections, Sarawak DAP will be empowered to work with like-minded Sarawakian political forces and justice-loving Sarawakians on a Five Year Political Plan to capture and form the Sarawak State Government in the 2012 General Election – putting into practice in Sarawak the concept of two-party or two-coalition politics.
The question is whether Sarawakians are ready for this new political challenge!
(Speech at the DAP Sarawak State General Election Ceramah at the Empawi Longhouse in Bukit Goram on 2nd May 2016 at 9 pm)