KUCHING: Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak and other state opposition parties need to come up with new issues if they are to forge a solid coalition against the current state government.
“DAP Sarawak calling for unity among other opposition parties and forming a solid coalition is not really a surprise if it really comes true.
“This is a good effort, but I think this is not enough as there are no new issues that can appeal to the people,” said political analyst Prof Datuk Fadzil Abdul Rahman.
He was contacted by New Sarawak Tribune, yesterday, about his views on DAP Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen’s statement on an opposition collaboration.
Chong stated that his party was open to cooperate with all the state opposition parties against the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government in the upcoming 15th General Election (GE15).
Fadzil said that for the opposition to succeed as a coalition, they need to focus on new issues that cause concern among Sarawakians.
“However, they always focus on the same old issues which the state government has been emphasising on such as the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), assistance, infrastructure, economy and others.
“This will further make them lose the people’s vote because the people have seen the efforts of the state government in handling such issues,” he said.
He added that DAP Sarawak lost its confidence after competing in state elections alone, thus explaining its call for opposition parties to be together in GE15.
Fadzil doubted this would materialise as other opposition parties might have different agendas and principles from DAP.
He also noted that in the previous state election, DAP lost their votes among the Chinese in the urban areas, which showed the people have had enough with the party.
“Maybe they can form a coalition especially with Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) as they have some heavyweight representatives and others as well.
“However, the current state government will still be in the people’s favour as GPS has proven that it has the capability to run Sarawak as well as in handling issues in the state,” he said.
