S'WAK POLLS | LIVE BLOG DAY 10 D-Day for Sarawak draws closer as campaigning heats up in the Land of the Hornbills.
Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak will chair a cabinet meeting in Kuching and is expected to hold a press conference after that.
PKR's Xavier Jayakumar is also to hold a press conference at the entrance of Wisma Bapa, where the cabinet meeting is taking place.
Meanwhile in Sibu, electoral watchdog Pemantau will be lodging a report with the Election Commission over various offences it has witnessed.
Follow our LIVE BLOG as the Malaysiakini team in Sarawak brings you the news as it takes place.
11MM - Sibu: PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli recounts that he could enter Sarawak because he had sent a letter to Chief Minister Adenan Satem.
In that letter, the PKR secretary-general said that he had promised not to ‘condemn’ Adenan but only Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
“I was was just jesting and sent an email. Then 15 minutes afterwards, Adenan’s private officer send me an SMS and an email informing that I could enter Sarawak. Adenan gave me five days,” says Rafizi.
He says this to a crowd of about 200 who had come to hear his ceramah for the Nangka state seat.
During that ceramah, Rafizi also reminded members of the public not to vote for BN because the 1MDB issue also affects Sarawakians.
“They promise various projects in Sarawak but as long as the 1MDB problem is not settled, the federal government will not have any money.
“So don’t be like a bathing rhino, be like a real rhino. If anyone wants to disturb our place, our rights, wants to oppress us, this rhino will surely fight and throw them out of Sarawak,: he says, in reference to PKR’s Borneo Rhino mascot which was given the name ‘Adil’.
11PM - Miri: A mini forest of umbrellas pops up in Miri town tonight, as almost 200 people gather to listen to DAP's ceramah despite the rain.
The crowd doubles in size later in the night when the rain subsided.
Othen than the three DAP candidates for Miri's urban seats, the crowd today also hears from DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang and Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua talk via Skype.
11pm - 3rd Mile Bazaar, Kuching: DAP Batu Kitang candidate Abdul Aziz Isa accuses BN hopeful Lo Khere Chiang of making using of his grandmother to campaign, as reported Free Malaysia Today (FMT).
In the report by FMT, Abdul Aziz's grandmother, Mazuyin Abdul Mayan, 75, was said to be disappointed with him for contesting against BN on DAP ticket.
"Let me make this clear for all of you. I feel really sorry for my grandmother. She's 75, and being used by that Lo Khere Chiang asking people not to vote for me," Aziz says.
Abdul Aziz says though while there may be differences between his grandmother and him, he still respects his elder.
"My father and my mother gave me the blessing to contest in Batu Kitang (on DAP's ticket).
"I have given my explanation to BN. Maybe after this, they will try to ask my dead ancestors. Now, what else do they want to do?
"What does Lo Khere Chiang do? He's not talking about the livelihood of the people of Batu Kitang, autonomy for Sarawak. He's only interested to ask my grandmother," he chides.
He continues to say that what is past is past, and he looks forward for the future of all Sarawakians.
Despite the humid weather during the night, the thousand strong supporters continue to cheer on as the DAP hopeful addresses the crowd.
10.00pm - 3rd Mile Bazaar, Kuching: Former Selangor executive councillor Ronnie Liu rallies the 1,500 crowd, as he tells them to throw their support to increase the number of seats for DAP.
"In 2006, we only got 6. Then, in 2011, we doubled that number. Because of you, my dear friends in Sarawak, we can deny two-thirds in the Parliament.
"Let's make it a history in Sarawak! The result of elections here will definitely give us a strong boost this coming general elections in 2018," says Liu in Hakka to the local crowd.
10PM - Miri: The scheduled debate between BN Piasau candidate Sebastian Ting and incumbent DAP assemblyperson Alan Ling (picture) has been cancelled.
In a statement, Ting says the showdown was cancelled because both parties were "unable to agree on the terms and conditions for the debate."
Elaborating on this, Ling tells Malaysiakini they could not agree on the topics for the debate.
"I agreed to his topics of what to debate what we've done for the past five years and what we'll do for the next five years.
"But I also wanted to debate on 1MDB, GST and autonomy, which I guess he didn't agree to," Ling says.
9.45pm - 3rd Mile Bazaar, Kuching: More than 1,000 people is at the DAP ceramah, causing a traffic jam at the 3rd mile roundabout.
Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh questions why caretaker chief minister Adenan Satem is being selective in banning politicians from entering Sarawak.
He jokingly says he was probably allowed in because he has better looks.
"Gobind Singh Deo was banned from entry, my other brother Jagdeep Singh was barred too. Maybe I look better.
"Thank you Adenan Satem for letting me in. Now, I, the son of Karpal Singh, have my voice heard here for the people of Sarawak!" Ramkarpal says in a fiery speech.
9.30PM - Miri: PAS' Pujut candidate Jofrie Jaraiee goes on a brief walkabout with ex-DAP assemblyperson Sum Cheok Leong to whip up support from the Chinese.
He delivers a short speech after meeting with Miri residents having dinner in various restaurants, telling them that PAS is not a racist party and is for all.
At the end of his brief speech, a trader nearby claps.
"I'm showing him support, although I haven't decided on who to vote for," the trader, Yong, tells Malaysiakini.
He is a Pujut voter.
Jofrie's speech was just a block away from where DAP holds its ceramah.
9:30pm - Batu Kawah, Kuching: SUPP president Dr Sim Kui Hian says Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng was being hypocritical for hammering the GST issue in Sarawak.
"He criticises a lot and yet was unable to stop the tax from being enforced in his home state," Sim tells a cheering audience of 400 at a BN dinner.
Most attendants are members of other BN components and are treated to lucky draws with hampers as prizes.
Meanwhile at a DAP ceramah 7km away, Abdul Aziz Isa criticises his SUPP opponent Lo Khere Chiang for saying the former's grandmother is "disappointed" in Abdul Aziz.
"It is normal for families to have different political views. I'm am choosing my own path," says Abdul Aziz to a crowd of 500..
Abdul Aziz is the grand-nephew of state governor Taib Mahmud. In a speech last week, Abdul Aziz called Lo "fat and lazy".
5.45pm – Kuching: SUPP has claimed that DAP will not be able to defend the state's sovereignty when there is clear-cut proof that it has sold out Penang's sovereignty.
This was according to the latest video SUPP uploads to Facebook today.
It cites the appointment of Selangor DAP chief Tony Pua as director of Island Golf Properties Bhd and Negeri Sembilan DAP chief Anthony Loke as director of Penang Hill Corporation as concrete evidence that DAP sold out the right and sovereignty of Penang.
"(You have) thrown out a Penangite and give to a Selangorian and a person from Negeri Sembilan […] This is irrefutable evidence that the rocket has sold its sovereignty," according to the video.
Pua replaced PKR’s Bukit Minyak assemblyperson Ong Chin Wen while Loke replaced PKR's Kebun Bunga assemblyperson Cheah Kah Peng.
"Defend the sovereignty of Sarawak, we will walk the talk," said the SUPP's mascot We can Bee, before punching and sending the DAP mascot Ubah flying away.
3.30pm - Kuching: State DAP leader Chong Chieng Jen says he is the latest victim of phone hacking, saying he received 50 messages from strangers at 10pm yesterday.
"The messages are in Mandarin, and sent out under my phone number. Whoever is doing this is painting a negative picture of DAP. They are trying to alienate our Malay and Dayak supporters.
"They are trying to go against our efforts to be more inclusive. We have more non-Chinese candidates now and all our banners and pamphlets are in multiple languages," says Chong.
Meanwhile, Chong, citing PKR’s lacklusture campaign, called on the party to bow out of the race for Batu Kitang.
"We are urging PKR to pull out and look beyond Pakatan. We have a chance to make history here. We can have a opposition Malay state representative, who is from a Chinese majority-seat, in the state assembly."
Chong says internal party surveys show some improvement in ground support for DAP's candidate Abdul Aziz Isa, but he is still short of exceeding the 50 percent required for an outright victory.
"If you look at PKR's campaigning in the last few days, it is obvious that ground sentiments are shifting towards Abdul Aziz. Since PKR is practically out of the race (for the state assembly office), there's no point for it to continue. We are urging PKR to pull out now. Do not help BN to capture Batu Kitang in any way. That is my argument," says Chong.
PKR's candidate for Batu Kitang is Voon Shiak Ni, while Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) has fielded the Padawan municipal council chairman Lo Khere Chiang as its candidate.
2.14pm - Kuching: Leaflets accusing incumbent DAP Padungan state assemblyperson Wong King Wei of gaining weight as a result of receiving a lucrative allowance and not doing any work, are being circulated.
"Why has DAP's Wong become so fat now? No need to work and getting RM15,000 monthly from taxpayers. It is difficult not to get fat.
"Wah! DAP can win even it sleeps. It's really wonderful. Think now, do you still want to support him?" read the leaflets, penned by an anonymous "disappointed supporter".
The leaflets, which shows two photographs of a slimmer Wong as well as a more recent one, have been seen in a market in Padungan.
Wong slams the leaflets as an exercise in character assassination.
"This proves that SUPP is desperate," he says.
BN candidate Peter Pau retorts his side has nothing to do with the leaflets.
"I have checked with our team, nobody is distributing them," he asserts.
Wong is challenged by Pau and State Reform Party (Star) candidate Teo Kuang Kim.
1.20pm - Miri: Armed with ex-DAP assemblyperson turned PAS supporters wing member Sum Cheok Leong, the Islamist party went to town today to engage Chinese voters in Pujut.
At one of their stops, a bak kut teh shop, Sum tells patrons that DAP is done for.
"The rocket party is finished. You choose PAS and DAP will be finished," he says.
Sum tells the media that earlier in their walkabout, he had been asked many questions, including about whether PAS was linked to the Islamic State terrorist group.
"But I told them, they've arrested so many IS people, not one of them was a PAS member," he says, adding that it would take time to change the negative perception of PAS.
The PAS candidate for Pujut, Jofrie Jaraiee, says with Sum around, they've had better success in engaging with the Chinese community, who are the majority of voters in this constituency.
Miri: PAS team visits a bak kut teh shop together with ex-DAP man as part of its Pujut campaign @malaysiakini pic.twitter.com/lvUOmsARrd
— Zikri Kamarulzaman (@zikri) May 4, 2016
12.59pm - Kuching: While the federal cabinet holds its meeting at Wisma Bapa Malaysia, Kuching, Sarawak PKR leaders stage a protest outside the premises of the state government building.
"We're here today to present our five demands to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
"Najib has made all these promises to look out for the interests of Sarawak, but they are empty promises," says Batu Lintang incumbent See Chee How, who was present with half a dozen PKR candidates from the Kuching district.
The demands are: raising Sarawak's oil royalty to 20 percent; amending laws to expand the state's marine territorial boundaries beyond three nautical miles; re-negotiating the tripartite petroleum agreement between federal and state governments and Petronas; ratifying the United Examinations Certification (UEC); and allowing the use of English as a teaching medium.
10am - Kuching: DAP veteran Lim Khim Boon, 66, challenges local opposition leaders from DAP and PKR to leave their respective parties from the peninsula if they are truly the “sons of Sarawak".
There is nothing much for both parties to fight for in Sarawak due to the limitation of powers, Borneo Post quotes him as saying in an interview.
“If they want to fight for Sarawak, they have to leave DAP and PKR and join the local opposition parties who know what is best for the people in the state,” says Lim, who is the father to Senadin DAP branch chairperson Lim Su Kien.
10am - Kuching: Caretaker Chief Minister Adenan Satem has called on Pakatan Harapan to abolish the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in Penang and Selangor.
He slammed Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali for confusing the Sarawakians with the GST issue.
"I challenge Lim Guan Eng and PKR, why can't they abolish GST? They just can't, but they want to confuse the people here," he said as reported by Chinese daily See Hua Daily.
"That's why I don't want them to disturb us. (We have) kicked out more than 40 people, from the opposition and Umno," he said at Serian yesterday.
9.30am - Kuching: DAP tells the voters in Batu Kitang to vote for its candidate Abdul Aziz Isa to ensure the presence of a Malay opposition lawmaker in the state legislative assembly.
"If he is chosen as Batu Kitang assemblyperson, he will be the first Malay opposition state assemblyperson," reads DAP's advertisement in Chinese newspaper See Hua Daily today.
"This will open up a new political situation that will break the monopoly of the PBB Malay lawmakers. The opposition coalition will be multi-ethnic," it reads.
The party argues that more Malays will join the opposition if Abdul Aziz is victorious in the state election.
DAP is engaged in five-corner fight in the predominantly Chinese seat and is facing, among others, Voon Shiak Ni from opposition ally PKR.
9.15am - Miri: State minister Awang Tengah Ali Hasan officiates a water supply project for 85 households in Bukit Kisi.
This is part of the RM14 million allocated for rural water supply projects to benefit 760 households in the Lambir state constituency under 11th Malaysia Plan.
Awang Tengah tells the voters in Lambir to vote for BN candidate Ripin Lamat, the Borneo Post reported today.
Caretaker Chief Minister Adenan Satem has been instrumental in accelerating rural development through the allocation of RM1.5 billion in funds under his Rural Transformation Programme (RTP), the PBB leader says.
12am – Kuching: PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man criticises the actions of the Sarawak state government for blocking party’s election workers from campaigning.
Most of them, who are from the peninsular, are only allowed to stay in the state until tomorrow – two days before polling day, laments Tuan Ibrahim.
“This should not happen in any democracy,” the PAS leader tells the press at the party’s headquarters in Kuching.
“There should not be any obstacles and their stay should not be restricted, especially when campaigning for the Sarawak election.”
