An exclusive Interview by Wong Ho Leng in the internet portal has drawn immediate response and flak from BN leaders. An sms was 1st received from a political observer which says,”WHL confident of denying BN 2/3rds in State.CM taib the reason.Any comments or inputs..??
Some of the many responses which audie61 received
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WHL is daydreaming”
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“Lets Meet at the Battleground’
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“DAP overzealous and Overconfident”
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“36 seats from where..??”
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WHL no holds barred after winning.,hmm”
A BN assemblyman who was not too amused by the “cockiness of WHL” responded with his own version Macam pepatah melayu
‘baru bertelur sebiji,sudah riuh satu kampung”
The sms read,” no doubt DAP won Sibu by the slimmest of margin that is not the reflection of rakyat not supporting BN and Taib.Sarawak BN will come back strong after this to deny DAP,PKR and PAS in the next S’wak elections’
WHL can dream on.He can only win the heart of one community out of the 28 we have in S’wak.The balance of the 27 other ethnic group will not be hoodwinked.
The whole article which appeared in the internet portal is posted:-
EXCLUSIVE Sibu MP Wong Ho Leng (left) is riding high on confidence, declaring that Pakatan Rakyat has what it takes to claim Sarawak in the upcoming state elections.
The DAP Sarawak chief – who earned a place in Parliament on his fourth try in the May 16 Sibu by-election – believes the ‘Sibu Miracle’ will extend to the rest of the state.
“We are very confident going into the state elections,” he said in an exclusive interview.
Wong, who also holds the Bukit Assek state seat, said the goal is to win 36 seats – just over half of the 70 in the Sarawak legislative assembly.
“We are going for state power, but I must admit there are certain difficulties,” he said.
” In the event we do not win state power, we are going for 24 seats to deny the BN government a two-thirds majority.
“It will not be easy but still achievable, on both scores.”
He said that he does not expect long-serving Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud to be an obstacle.
“I think Taib will not be a problem for us. As a matter of fact, I think the Sarawak people have seen enough of Taib,” he said, referring to the chief minister’s near three-decade rule.
He said the Pakatan strategy of using simmering discontent against Taib as the central theme of the campaign had worked in Sibu.
As such, Wong expects as good a response from the rest of the electorate in the state elections, which must be held by July 2012 at the latest.
“We will have the same central theme. I think a lot of people would agree with us, we are not in a quandary.
“How unpopular is Taib? I myself saw a Taib poster hung under a tree in Sibu Jaya (during the Sibu by-election), which is not part of the Bandar Sibu area.
“It is in fact in Dudong (under the Lanang parliamentary constituency)… I don’t know why they hung it in Sibu Jaya.
“Something must be wrong somewhere if even campaigners or workers feel that his poster should not be up in Bandar Sibu.”
Taib’s ‘succession plan’
Wong hinted that rumours about Taib’s retirement and impending succession plan will play into the hands of the state’s fledgling Pakatan coalition, but refused to give anything away.
“I don’t think the people of Sarawak will take his succession plan lightly.
“We have been told there have been succession plans, but those thought able to succeed him were either dropped, or dropped (out) themselves.
“(Taib’s) succession (plan) is going to be a problem. I have one message for Taib – if he doesn’t know how to set out a succession plan, the people can help him in this coming state election. I think the message is very clear to him.”
On Taib’s alleged penchant for using Umno as the bogeyman for Sarawak voters, Wong said the politician is behind time.
He said the infamous scare tactic – a scenario in which Umno would take over if Taib (right) is not returned to power – runs counter to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s 1Malaysia concept.
“I don’t think that is right at all. Umno has made it very clear that it is not coming to Sarawak, and I don’t think they are not coming because of Taib,” said Wong.
“For me, since everybody agrees with the concept called 1Malaysia, I do not see that any success can be made of the scare tactic that Umno is coming to take over Sarawak.”
Wong admitted that the state Pakatan, which only formalised its ties the week before the Sibu by-election campaign, faces an uphill battle in convincing Sarawakians, particularly the Ibans, to support it.
He said language is one major hurdle in reaching out to the Ibans – the largest ethnic group in the state – because most are poor and uneducated.
“That’s the paradox there. It is most ironic. Not many top echelon leaders are fluent in Iban, including myself, I must admit.
“And to learn Iban you have to be patient, it takes time.
“And yet the election is coming. Probably the formation of Pakatan will help. As much as DAP isn’t totally Chinese-based, we must admit we have more Chinese than Iban and Malay in DAP Sarawak.
“So probably a division of labour between Pakatan parties – DAP, PKR, PAS and Snap – (and cooperation will) bring better results.”
Wong said that, in the Sibu by-election, DAP suffered a 2.6 percent drop in support from the Ibans mainly due to the BN’s lavish distribution of money and gifts at longhouses.
“The harder we campaigned in Iban areas, the less support we got. It was ironic. The more we campaigned, the more the money that came in – and the more SUPP and BN played the money game.
“We were not able to receive the amount of support we aimed to achieve (but) we will not give up. A decrease in support does not mean DAP should disown the Iban community.
“Since 1963 when Sarawak joined (the federation) to form Malaysia, Ibans have been poor – 47 years later, Ibans remain poor under the BN formula.
“47 years is a long time and yet how can they be kept poor?
“They must realise that in order for them to be brought out of the cocoon of poverty, (they) cannot depend on BN any more.”
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