DAP steps up preparation for 12th state polls

KUCHING: State Democratic Action Party (DAP) is gearing up its election preparation for the 12th state polls that is expected to be called in 2021.

Its chairman Chong Chieng Jen said the party’s incumbents had been instructed to beef up their ground work towards ensuring that Pakatan Harapan (PH) Sarawak would deliver more state seats.

“All our elected representatives will be assigned to take care of several rural areas. We have discussed in-depth the preparation leading up to the (next) state election,” he said after chairing a state DAP committee meeting at the party’s headquarters here yesterday.

Chong, who is Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, Stampin MP and Kota Sentosa assemblyman, said he could not disclose the party’s election strategies, stating they should remain confidential.

According to him, the rural areas that DAP lawmakers have been instructed to ‘do their ground work in’ do not necessarily mean that the party will be standing there.

Without going into the details of the rural areas that their elected representatives would be focusing on, he said the ground work is to help out with the election machinery.

“If DAP is contesting in those rural areas, then we will take charge; but if we are not, then we will assist and give cooperation to our component parties,” he pointed out.

The four component parties of PH Sarawak are DAP Sarawak, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Sarawak, Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) Sarawak and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) Sarawak.

Chong, also PH Sarawak chairman, said he could not be certain how many seats DAP Sarawak would be standing in as further negotiations on seat allocation had to be carried out.

“With the recent joining of Bersatu Sarawak, there will be further negotiations and adjustments.

“Basically, we (DAP Sarawak) will be working closely together with other PH Sarawak component parties,” he said.

He stressed that PH Sarawak will be taking on Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) one-on-one in all the 82 state constituencies.

“Based on past experiences, negotiations on seat allocation are going to take a long time. Preparations must be done before that because ground work cannot wait.”

Asked whether all the DAP incumbents will be defending their seats, Chong said issues on candidacy were not discussed during the meeting.