Media Statement
by DAP National Chairman Lim Kit Siang in Penang on Sunday, 2nd
April 2000:
Sanggang by-election result a setback for democracy and reforms
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I congratulate the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi
for his success in securing a bigger Barisan Nasional victory in the
Sanggang state assembly by-election in Pahang yesterday.
The defeat of the Barisan Alternative candidate in Sanggang is a
setback for democracy and political and economic reforms in Malaysia.
The Barisan Nasional leadership will interpret its success in Sanggang
in almost doubling its previous 1,038-vote majority in the general
election to 1,963-vote majority as an endorsement of its clampdown on
democracy and human rights in the past four months and the
continuation of the practices of corruption, cronyism and
unaccountable governance.
The Barisan Nasional's greater majority vote in Sanggang is caused by
the ability of UMNO to win back the support of Malay voters it lost in
the general election. Although there was a slight increase in the
Chinese votes for the Barisan Alternative candidate in yesterday's
by-election as compared to the general election, it was not
significant enough to influence the larger result.
DAP and the Barisan Alternative must draw the right lessons from the
Sanggang by-election result, both in terms of strategy and tactics and
in particular the answer to two important questions: firstly, why the
Barisan Alternative had failed to increase or maintain Malay voter
support and secondly, why the Barisan Alternative had not been able to
make a greater impact on the Chinese voters to counter the MCA and
Gerakan lies and falsehoods that a PAS victory will lead to the
Chinese becoming an "oppressed race" where there would be no pork, no
alcohol, no temples, no Chinese schools, women would have to wear
tudung, pretty women cannot find work and there would be the chopping
of hands and feet.
Lim Kit Siang
