Since he took over as Sarawak’s fifth chief minister from Abdul Taib Mahmud, who helmed the state government for more than 33 years, Adenan Satem has been carrying the ‘political baggage’ that has been associated with the former chief minister.

Issues such as corruption, cronyism and abuse of power have been exploited by opposition parties in past elections, resulting in the BN, especially Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), losing the majority of Chinese support.

In the 2011 state election, for example, DAP and PKR almost wiped out SUPP in the 19 seats it contested. SUPP lost 13 seats, and won only one Chinese-majority seat - Senadin - and with a mere 58-vote majority.