Sarawak BN loses 12 seats
KUCHING: Sarawak Barisan Nasional (BN) lost 12 out of 31 parliamentary seats.
Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) suffered the most, losing six out of seven contested seats in Stampin, Bandar Kuching, Sarikei, Sibu, Lanang and Miri.
Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) was defeated in Puncak Borneo, Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) lost in Selangau, Lubok Antu and Julau, while Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) went down in Saratok and Mas Gading.
The DAP took six, PKR won four and two Independent candidates defeated BN in Lubok Antu and Julau.
Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg said the coalition would carry out a post-mortem on the results, as Sarawak has always been deemed a “fixed deposit”.
The state Barisan chairman added that component parties are not thinking about leaving the coalition even if Pakatan Harapan takes over Putrajaya.
“I expected the results to be better, but winning 19 out of 31 seats is not bad. National issues could contribute to our loss. We will carry out a post-mortem,” he told reporters at the old state legislative assembly building here this morning. Sarawak Barisan had set a 28-seat target for GE14. In the 2013 General Election, BN won 25 out of 31 parliamentary constituencies.
In the previous state polls in 2016, Barisan recorded a landslide victory, winning 72 out of 82 constituencies under Abang Johari’s predecessor, the late Tan Sri Adenan Satem.