Pakatan Rakyat internal crisis causes DAP to lose seats - Kit Siang

DAP admitted today internal friction and lack of consensus among the Pakatan Harapan coalition had resulted in the party's defeat in the Sarawak’s 11th state election.

DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang said, they can avoid losing the five Chinese-majority seats if internal crisis between the opposition parties is resolved before the campaign season.

Speaking to a press conference at the Sarawak party headquarters here today, he said it was a blow for the opposition in the state itself.

"My main regret is Pakatan Harapan was not the major movement in Sarawak. It made the (election) results a little different this time around and we will find a way to deal with this problem," he said.

Also present was Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen.

On Saturday, Barisan Nasional (BN) won big in the state election by securing 72 out of 82 seats in the State Legislative Assembly, including two seats uncontested .

DAP, which was previously in control of 12 seats in the state, now only won seven of the 31 seats contested .

Meanwhile, PKR only obtained three seats despite contesting in 41 seats .

Failure to maintain its five seats proves DAP’s strategy and approach to win votes were rejected by the people there.

Lim also explained that the low voter turnout was a factor which contributed to the party’s defeat to BN in the five seats .

In addition, he said, the reputation of Team Adenan also contributed to BN’s victory in the election.