DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng said he was confident the party’s collaboration in the unity government will keep it in power for a good decade.

“...We can lead Malaysia for another 10 years with our friends in Sabah and Sarawak,” the Bagan MP said in a speech at the party’s national convention in Putrajaya today.

DAP, a component of Pakatan Harapan (PH), a coalition comprising PKR and Amanah, have entered a cooperation with long-term nemesis Barisan Nasional (BN) in the unity government under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

PH and BN agreed to form a unity after a political impasse after the general election, which saw no entity with sufficient majority to form a federal government.

After PH’s win in Pulai and Simpang Jeram in Johor yesterday, Lim said they will work to capture seats won by rivals Perikatan Nasional (PN) in the future.

“After the victory in Johor, we want to recapture (seats) in PN’s areas,” he said.

PH candidate Suhaizan Kaiat’s victory in Pulai makes him the first MP elected with support from the PH-BN alliance.

Suhaizan beat PN’s Zulkifli Jaafar with a 18,641-vote majority after polling 48,283 ballots in a three-cornered contest.

Zulkifli polled 29,642 votes while Independent candidate Samsudin Mohamad Fauzi scored 528.

The PH-BN coalition also retained the Simpang Jeram state seat.

PH’s Simpang Jeram candidate Nazri Abdul Rahman won the seat with a majority of 3,514 votes, defeating Dr Mohd Mazri Yahya of PN and Independent candidate S. Jeganathan.

Lim said the PH-BN pact should build on its victories in Johor but added it would not go down the same route of “dirty politics” like PN.

“We will not follow the dirty political game of the opposing party that plays on racial sentiments and extremism.

“We must expose the politics of slander, infighting, hatred, intimidation and threats that divide the people without benefiting anyone.

“Don’t believe the political ‘wolves’ who masquerade as principled statesmen or young people who support the old politics and who are full of jealousy and envy just to take revenge,” he said.

Lim said the unity government is supported by the public because they want a multi-ethnic government that serves everyone regardless of race and religion.

“Malaysia belongs to us who were born here, grew up here, and work, pay taxes, get married and live here.

“The people support the unity government because they want political stability, to focus on the economy and the people’s well-being. Enough of politics. Let’s see who can make the people live more comfortably,” he said. – September 10, 2023.