By Clara Chooi (Malaysian Insider)
KUALA LUMPUR, May 18 — DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang claimed today that Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) Sibu success was an early forecast of brighter days ahead in the fledgling coalition’s journey towards Putrajaya.
“The Sibu by-election result has triple far-reaching implications for Sibu, Sarawak and Malaysia.
“Most important of all is that the DAP/PR victory in Sibu sparks new hopes for a PR Federal government in the next 13th general election,” he said in a statement here today.
Lim said that in one fell swoop, the “Sibu miracle” had caused three national impacts including the strengthening of PR’s representation in Parliament.
“This ensures the Barisan Nasional would not steal back its previous unbroken two-thirds majority,” he said.
He said the Sibu success also showed that the East Malaysian states were no longer “fixed deposit” states that had saved the BN’s federal power in Election 2008.
“It shows Umno and Putrajaya cannot continue to take the people of Sarawak and Sabah for granted in disregarding their legitimate grievances and discontent,” he said.
Lim added that the collaboration of PR leaders in campaigning together during the Sibu by-election had also helped to demonstrate to all Malaysians from both sides of the South China Sea the “growing maturity and effectiveness” of the PR alliance.
“What is most promising is the support PR received from both the voters (including those who had voted for BN in the previous election) and the younger generation who are not registered voters, showing that the future is one that holds great promise,” he said.
Lim said the Sibu results showed a swing of 6.4 per cent of Chinese voters from 63 per cent to 69.4 per cent while there was an “interesting” increase of about 2.7 per cent in the Malay/Melanau votes as compared to the results of Election2008.
“The SUPP/BN campaign in Sibu was most successful in locking up the Iban long houses with twin politics of money and intimidation, resulting in the DAP candidate suffering a 2.6 per cent marginal marginal loss of Iban votes,” he said.
Still, said Lim, the favourable support for PR from the Iban and Malay/Melanau voters demonstrated that the areas where both communities were strong would be “fertile grounds” for making inroads during the coming Sarawak state election and the national general election.
In Sibu on Sunday, DAP’s Wong Ho Leng secured a surprising win when he beat SUPP’s Robert Lau Hui Yew with a mere 398-vote majority.