malaysiatoday
[...] Sarawak is truly multi-ethnic in nature. The politically dominant Malay Melanaus comprise 20 per cent, the commercially powerful Chinese comprise 30 per cent and the rest is made up of 26 non-Muslim indigenous communities collectively referred to as Dayaks.
The ethnic barriers are broken down further by the high percentage of mixed marriages registered estimated at 30 per cent of all mixed marriages in Malaysia annually.
And there are signs that PKR is fast gaining ground. At a recent party fund-raising dinner in Miri, about 3,000 people, mostly from the Dayak community, attended and raised an estimated RM300,000 for the state PKR war chest to fight in the state elections.
The Sarawak state assembly currently has a total of 71 seats. Taib's PBB holds 35 seats, the Sarawak United Progressive Party (SUPP) 11 seats, the Sarawak Progressive Development Party (SPDP) eight and Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) eight, for a total of 62 seats.
According to reliable sources, the BN could lose up to 30 seats in the next state elections, which would mean that Pakatan Rakyat just needs to capture six extra seats to win power, if the elections were held today.
Anwar is hoping that by capturing the state government, it would force Sarawak BN Members of Parliament to jump ship to Pakatan Rakyat and help him capture power at the federal level.
He would then avoid facing a rejuvenated Umno under the heir apparent prime minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, at the next general election. .... selanjutnya.
