Chong speaking at Parti Amanah Negara Sarawak’s Gawai Raya celebration held at Matang Jaya last night.
KUCHING: Pakatan Harapan (PH) Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen said there is a possibility that the coalition will take over the state government after the next state election which is due in 2021.
Chong, who is also Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak chairman, said their confidence was based on the results of the 14th General Election, in which Sarawak PH won six out of 15 Bumiputera parliamentary seats in Sarawak during the time.
The Bumiputera parliamentary seats won were Mas Gading, Puncak Borneo, Saratok, Selangau and Julau parliamentary seats
Chong said they won the seats despite PH Sarawak going against all odds when all the machinery was under Barisan Nasional at the time.
“Now that the PH has taken over the federal governmet, it is definitely different but he PH government does not force the police and the army to support PH as we believe that all Malaysian voters have the right to vote for whoever they want,” he added during Parti Amanah Negara Sarawak’s Gawai Raya celebration held at Matang Jaya last night.
Thus, Chong assured the people that the federal government would not restrict the freedom of any voter during the coming state election.
“Unlike the elections before this, the election this time will be fair because we think that PH can win the next state election. There is no need for us to manipulate all the machineries in our favour,” he said.
During the event, Chong who is also Deputy Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister, also said that Sarawakians need to understand what Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng meant when he said that Sarawak will go bankrupt within three years if Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) stays in power.
According to him, what Lim meant was if GPS continues to spend on mega projects such as the light rail transit (LRT), aeroplane (a Cessna cargo plane to transport Sarawak’s agricultural produce to Singapore), the Coastal Road, Second Trunk Road and building telecommunication towers, then Sarawak would really go bankrupt in three years.
“Lim is finance minister and he surely knows what he is talking about. The projects announced by GPS will require billions of ringgit to be spent on,” he said.