THE Sarawak elections tomorrow will be the most important poll in the country’s history, because it will be a stepping stone in making Malaysia a world-class nation again, DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang said.

Lim urged Sarawak folk to stand up and lead Malaysians in the “Battle for New Malaysia 2.0”, urging them to cast their votes for Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidates to bring positive changes to the country in decades to come.

“In the past half-a-century, Malaysia has been losing out to other nations, overtaken first by Taiwan, then South Korea, Singapore and Vietnam, and if we do not buck up, we will lose out to other nations in the coming decades – including Indonesia,” the veteran politician said in a statement.

“We must launch the Battle for a New Malaysia 2.0, which may take three or four decades for Malaysia to achieve the status of a world-class nation.

“This can be done provided Malaysians have the vision and the stamina for such an objective, and I call on the voters of Sarawak tomorrow to provide the leadership in such a commitment when they cast their votes.”

Lim said Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) leaders are quite confident that they will return as the Sarawak government, even with a two-thirds majority.

He urged voters not to split their votes and unite behind DAP, denying GPS that two-thirds majority by voting for the 28 PH candidates.

Polling for Sarawak elections will take place tomorrow, with 349 candidates competing across 82 constituencies.

Currently, the GPS coalition holds 67 of those 82 seats in the assembly.

Lim, who is the Iskandar Puteri MP, also lauded the decision to amend the Federal Constitution with respect to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), which was passed unanimously in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday.

He said the passing of the bill will undo the injustices of the 1976 Constitution Amendment Act, in which Sarawak folk lost their rights under MA63 for half-a-century in terms of fair financial funding, and meaningful state autonomy, especially in education and health, fair division of oil revenues and equitable development prospects.

Lim said the new Sarawak assembly must claim fair compensation from the government for half a century of neglect.

“What happened in Parliament on Tuesday was only the first step in a long journey to restore the rights and interests of Sarawak folk as promised in MA63.

“DAP had been proved right by history, as the nine DAP MPs were the only MPs to vote against the 1976 constitution amendment bill, but Sarawak paid heavily in terms of lost rights for close to half-a-century,” he said.

“All these changes would not be possible if not for the 14th general election where PH ended Umno’s political hegemony and the Sarawak government had to kowtow to Umno’s wishes.

“This was the real reason for the 1976 Constitution Amendment Act, which reduced Sarawak from one of the three entities that formed Malaysia to one of the 13 Malaysian states.

“That was the Battle for a New Malaysia 1.0, where the DAP was involved from our formation in 1966 to 2018.

“Now we must be prepared for the Battle for a New Malaysia 2.0 to ensure that in four or five decades’ time, Malaysia can become a world-class nation,” he added. – December 17, 2021.