DAP sincere in merger proposal, says Guan Eng
Ang Ngan TohPublished: May 1, 2011 5:37 PM | Updated: May 1, 2011 5:45 PM
DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said it is out of sincerity that the party wants to merge with Sarawak National Party (Snap).
Lim Guan Eng says it isn't right to condemn Snap as a dead party just because of its poor electoral results and the apparent lack of support from the people.
DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said it is out of sincerity that the party wants to merge with Sarawak National Party (Snap).
“We do not have problems with Snap. There is no animosity between us,” he said at a DAP public forum on the “Myth of the 2011 Sarawak state elections: Only the Chinese voters swing to PKR?”
Responding to a question by a Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) professor, Guan Eng said he agreed that some people in Snap are not credible, but there are others who are.
He said it was not right to condemn Snap as a dead party just because of its poor performances in the state elections and the apparent lack of support from the people.
“We are slowly reaching out to Snap, out of sincerity on our part,” Guan Eng, who is also the Penang chief minister, said.
Guan Eng said since the merger proposal was brought up, there had been some reservations among the people.
But at the same time, a positive change has also been noted.
He said with the positive change among the people, Pakatan Rakyat could now focus its attention to face the BN in the next state election.
The DAP-Snap merger proposal was first mooted by DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang (right) soon after the April 16 state elections was held.
Kit Siang had said that merging with Snap was one of the ways for DAP to reach out to the rural areas, especially among the Dayaks.
However, Snap secretary-general Stanley Jugol replied that his party was not keen to merge with the DAP.
He had added that the party members would have to be consulted first before any merger could take place.
Meanwhile, Guan said there was an overall increase in the support among the non-Chinese voters for the DAP in the recent state elections.
“The overall support from the non-Chinese was significant as it registered by more than the threshold of 20 per cent set by the party,” he added.
He said this showed that the DAP had the support of all the races in Sarawak, contrary to claims by the BN leaders that it won the 12 seats due to the Chinese support only.
Citing Kidurong as example, Guan Eng said the DAP candidate Chiew Chiu Sing garnered 63.3 per cent of the Iban support who are the majority voters and an overall 70 per cent of the popular support, both from the Chinese and non-Chinese voters.
Out of 27,225 registered voters in Kidurong, the Malay/Melanaus consist of 15.15 percent, Chinese 38.11 percent, Iban 46.21 percent while the rest are made up of the Bidayuhs and Orang Ulu.
“Due to the Iban support in Kidurong, Chiew won by 6,930 votes.
“If PR (Pakatan Rakyat) has that kind of support in other constituencies, we only have Pek Moh (Taib Mahmud) left in the state legislative assembly,” he stated.
Guan Eng said the DAP managed to wrest Dudong from SUPP because of a 28.3 percent support from the non-Chinese voters, especially the Ibans.
He said the support of 46.4 per cent of the Ibans had enabled the DAP to retain Meradong.
Guan Eng said there was also a big swing of non-Chinese support in Kota Sentosa for the DAP.
Chong
Jen (left), in his address, said he could sense the non-Chinese support in Kota Sentosa, especially among the Ibans and Malays in his rounds visiting the constituency.
He said without their support he would not have retained Kota Sentosa by a bigger majority.
He said the feelings on the ground are that the rural people want the DAP to move to the rural areas.
“The rural people are no longer afraid of the scare tactics of the Barisan Nasional,” he added.
He said the immediate move of the DAP is to go to the Bidayuh areas.
He has appointed a Bidayuh as his special assistant whose main job is to provide service to the people in Bengoh constituency.
“If we want to win the next state elections, we have to start working now,” he said.
“We do not have problems with Snap. There is no animosity between us,” he said at a DAP public forum on the “Myth of the 2011 Sarawak state elections: Only the Chinese voters swing to PKR?”Responding to a question by a Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) professor, Guan Eng said he agreed that some people in Snap are not credible, but there are others who are.
He said it was not right to condemn Snap as a dead party just because of its poor performances in the state elections and the apparent lack of support from the people.
“We are slowly reaching out to Snap, out of sincerity on our part,” Guan Eng, who is also the Penang chief minister, said.
Guan Eng said since the merger proposal was brought up, there had been some reservations among the people.
But at the same time, a positive change has also been noted.
He said with the positive change among the people, Pakatan Rakyat could now focus its attention to face the BN in the next state election.
The DAP-Snap merger proposal was first mooted by DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang (right) soon after the April 16 state elections was held.Kit Siang had said that merging with Snap was one of the ways for DAP to reach out to the rural areas, especially among the Dayaks.
However, Snap secretary-general Stanley Jugol replied that his party was not keen to merge with the DAP.
He had added that the party members would have to be consulted first before any merger could take place.
Meanwhile, Guan said there was an overall increase in the support among the non-Chinese voters for the DAP in the recent state elections.
“The overall support from the non-Chinese was significant as it registered by more than the threshold of 20 per cent set by the party,” he added.
He said this showed that the DAP had the support of all the races in Sarawak, contrary to claims by the BN leaders that it won the 12 seats due to the Chinese support only.
Citing Kidurong as example, Guan Eng said the DAP candidate Chiew Chiu Sing garnered 63.3 per cent of the Iban support who are the majority voters and an overall 70 per cent of the popular support, both from the Chinese and non-Chinese voters.
Out of 27,225 registered voters in Kidurong, the Malay/Melanaus consist of 15.15 percent, Chinese 38.11 percent, Iban 46.21 percent while the rest are made up of the Bidayuhs and Orang Ulu.
“Due to the Iban support in Kidurong, Chiew won by 6,930 votes.
“If PR (Pakatan Rakyat) has that kind of support in other constituencies, we only have Pek Moh (Taib Mahmud) left in the state legislative assembly,” he stated.
Guan Eng said the DAP managed to wrest Dudong from SUPP because of a 28.3 percent support from the non-Chinese voters, especially the Ibans.
He said the support of 46.4 per cent of the Ibans had enabled the DAP to retain Meradong.
Guan Eng said there was also a big swing of non-Chinese support in Kota Sentosa for the DAP.
Chong
Jen (left), in his address, said he could sense the non-Chinese support in Kota Sentosa, especially among the Ibans and Malays in his rounds visiting the constituency.He said without their support he would not have retained Kota Sentosa by a bigger majority.
He said the feelings on the ground are that the rural people want the DAP to move to the rural areas.
“The rural people are no longer afraid of the scare tactics of the Barisan Nasional,” he added.
He said the immediate move of the DAP is to go to the Bidayuh areas.
He has appointed a Bidayuh as his special assistant whose main job is to provide service to the people in Bengoh constituency.
“If we want to win the next state elections, we have to start working now,” he said.
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