“I have said that if DAP achieves our twin objective on Polling Day of defending the 12 State Assembly seats won five years ago, and succeeds in making breakthroughs and victories among some of the 16 Dayak constituencies, then Sarawak DAP is ready to make the next Sarawak State General Election in 2021 a great battleground to end the six decades of Sarawak Barisan Nasional rule in Sarawak and its replacement by a new DAP or DAP-led Sarawak State Government,” he told a crowd in mixed Chinese and Bahasa Malaysia at the Boulevard Business Centre here last night.
Lim has previously said that the DAP would be unable to prevent the Barisan Nasional from regaining a two-third majority in the assembly.
He said the party’s plans also depended on their performance today, as 1.1 million Sarawakians went out to vote for the first time after Chief Minister Adenan Satem took over the state government.
The DAP is contesting 31 seats in the Sarawak elections today, after winning 12 of 15 in 2011.
Besides their traditional stronghold in urban mainly-Chinese constituencies, the party is also contesting in 16 Dayak seats: Mulu, Murum, Samalaju, Kemena, Ngemah, Pakan, Tasik Biru, Mambong, Kedup, Bukit Semuja, Bukit Goram, Katibas.
Dayak seats were traditionally contested by their ally PKR. A breakdown in seat negotiations between the two parties led to six overlapping constituencies and multi-lateral contests.
National literary laureate A. Samad Ismail accompanied Lim at last night’s ceramah which drew about 5,000 attendees, mostly Chinese from the three constituencies here: Pujut, Piasau and Senadin.
After lacklustre crowds at ceramahs all week, local people have finally turned out for their final chance to hear both DAP and Barisan Nasional candidates before campaigning ended at midnight.
The DAP is seen set to retain Piasau. It is expected to put up a fight to retain Pujut and to wrest Senadin from BN.
The BN ceramah in Miri attracted almost 500 people, a good number considering less than 100 people have attended the session all week.
BN’s Lee Kim Shin, its only Miri assemblyman in the last assembly, is expected to have a close fight with two Dayak candidates, Bob Baru Langub of DAP and Philemon John Endau of PBDS Baru to defend his Senadin seat.
Businessman Hii King Chiong, a BN Direct Candidate, is seen as the most popular and high profile candidate in Pujut and actually has a bright chance to win the seat.
Against him are former DAP member Fong Pau Teck seeking re-election as an independent candidate, and DAP’s Ting Tiong Choon and Sarawak PAS commissioner Jofri Jaraiee.