SIBU: Sibu MP Oscar Ling Chai Yew said the DAP’s ‘May 5, Change the Government’ slogan during the 13th General Election was not a lie aimed at misleading the people to go against the BN government.
He said voters had long had the intention to change the government in the face of rampant corruption, money politics and unfair policies.
“We were not creating a lie, but merely trumpeted what the people had long wanted,” he clarified.
He was reacting to statements by BN leaders that the opposition had lied with the slogan on the ground that it was not possible to have the government changed.
“Neither was the election a ‘Chinese tsunami’,” he said, adding that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had coined the term following BN’s defeat in Chinese-majority constituencies.
In the peninsula, Ling noted, the DAP had won in two Malay-majority seats, and in Kidurong many non-Chinese voters had voted for the DAP candidate.
“And out of the 5.6 million votes garnered by PR, only 2.8 million were Chinese votes.
“How could this be termed a Chinese tsunami?”
BN retained power in the May 5 general election with 133 seats, 21 more than the 112 required to get a simple majority. PR took 89 seats.
Ling also disclosed that PR would file election petitions against the results of some 30 controversial seats which BN won with razor-thin margins.
“We are confident of getting back 22 to 27 seats that rightfully belong to us,” he claimed.
Ling also said it was time for SUPP to do some soul searching as to why they performed so poorly rather than blaming and punishing others.
“There is no reason to punish the people just because they had supported DAP. SUPP should sit down and look into the reasons why they were rejected outright,” Ling added.
He said SUPP should think carefully what they had done for the people during their years in the BN.
“It is the underperforming assemblymen and MPs who truly need to be punished,” he suggested.
He also said SUPP leaders should not have asked the people to turn to the DAP for assistance on the ground that DAP had won more seats now.
“If SUPP leaders feel that they are no longer relevant, they might as well withdraw their party from the BN and close shop,” he added.