State BN will stick with the coalition — Abang Johari

KUCHING: Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg accompanied by the two Deputy Chief Ministers Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah and Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan left the old Dewan Undangan Negeri Building, where the State Barisan Nasional ( BN) leaders had gathered, shortly after midnight, catching the press who have been camping since 7pm last night off guard.

However, the reporters managed to ask him for comments on the results of the election at the state and national level as he was leaving.

Abang Johari who is the state BN chairman admitted his disappointment over the loss of 12 seats by BN in Sarawak but vowed the state BN will not leave the coalition.

“We are Barisan lah... but

Yes, we are disappointed, we expected it to be better. But this is democracy, either you win or lose. But we still won 19 seats. Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg, Chief Minister

we cannot comment yet as the nationwide result has not been made official yet,” he said.

He said that the cause of the loss of those seats was due to ‘ national issues’ but he did not elaborate further, and BN will conduct a post- mortem on the lost seats.

Abang Johari stressed that the state BN did not perform too badly as it won 19 of the 31 seats.

“Yes, we are disappointed, we expected it to be better. But this is democracy, either you win or lose. But we still won 19 seats,” he said.

On the performance of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu ( PBB) of which he is party president, he pointed out that it only lost Puncak Borneo out of the 14 seats it contested

As the results had not been officially announced when he was speaking to the press, the Chief Minister refused to comment on the federal government and said a proper press conference will be held today.

Also seen leaving earlier were Deputy Chief Minister and Parti Rakyat Sarawak president Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Jemut Masing, Minister of Education, Science and Technological Research Dato Sri Michael Manyin Jawong and Petra Jaya MP Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, as well as other state BN leaders. They all looked gloomy and in a haste to leave the venue.

— Photo by Chimon Upon Abang Johari speaks briefly to members of the press as he was leaving the Old DUN Complex where a press conference was supposed to be held but was cancelled. Accompanying him are Awang Tengah (right) and Uggah (left).