With campaigning entering its third day, the Barisan Nasional (BN) and opposition Pakatan Rakyat pact are locking horns over the issue of an Islamic state with both sides challenging each other to state their stand on the matter.

It is a rare scene as local issues usually outweigh national ones in Sarawak elections. The BN represented by the Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) has taken a hard stand on the issue and is challenging the DAP on the other side whether the party supports an Islamic state as mooted by their partner PAS.

"This is our challenge to the DAP. They keep saying change. We want them to say whether they support an Islamic state.

NONE "We want DAP leaders, if they are really serious about bringing a better future for Sarawak, they must announce publicly that they do not want an Islamic state ala PAS," Sibu SUPP publicity chief Daniel Ngieng ( left ) said at the party's daily press conference in conjuntcion with the by-election today.

Ngieng claimed that people in Sibu did not welcome PAS or DAP's other partner PKR and that ceramah (politic rallies) held by

PAS and PKR leaders so far had only received lukewarm response.

"What the people look at in the Peninsula is different from how people in Sarawak look at things. We are two different societies," he said.

He also questioned DAP leaders why they were so afraid of the 1Malaysia concept as Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak only wanted want to unite all races, irrespective of their culture, religion or background.

azlan "Why is the DAP so scared of 1Malaysia. Is it because they have different versions on Malaysia, previously Malaysian Malaysia and now Middle Malaysia?"

The challenge from the SUPP comes as both sides gear up for the support of voters in Sibu, particularly the Chinese who make up 67 per cent of the electorate.

Based on previous results, only about 38 per cent of the Chinese voters back the BN in the constituency as compared to from 75 to 85 percent of the Malay/Melanau community.

Billboards sprung up in town today, the most striking among them was one with a picture of "Kampua Mee" with the words "A Vote for the DAP is a Vote for an Islamic state", as a subtle way of telling the voters, particularly the predominant Foochow community here that they may lose the famous traditional noodle if the Opposition pact comes into power.

"Kampua is a popular Foochow dish which has pork ingredients. As the majority here are Foochows, we hope by doing this, it will able to send a clear message to the voters on the Islamic state matter," said Ngieng.

'BN had delivered a killer blow'

DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang, at the party's morning press conference in Sibu today, admitted that the "BN had delivered a killer blow" by touching on the Islamic state issue through the effective slogan ("A Vote for DAP is a vote for an Islamic State").

NONE "We are now facing an even tougher situation in this campaign. If we cannot recover, we are going to lose," he said.

Lim ( right in photo ) said it was because of this strategy that he and current DAP chairperson Karpal Singh lost in the general election in 1999, where he lost in Bukit Bendera and Karpal Singh in Jelutong (both parliamentary seats are in Penang).

"In the Peninsula, this strategy may not work now but here the situation is different," he said, citing the Bukit Gantang by-election as an the example where voters in the Chinese new village of Kuala Sepetang voted overwhelmingly for PAS candidate and former Perak Menteri Besar Mohamad Nizar Jamaluddin.

NONE DAP leaders admitted that the issue had put them in a defensive position and that was why they brought Nizar ( extreme left in photo ) in to explain the issue to the voters through the party's "ceramah" sessions.

They also claimed that SUPP's top leadership for the past 10 years had never stated their stand as to whether Malaysia was a secular state.

However, Sibu SUPP chief Wong Soon Koh rubbished Lim's "killer blow" take, saying the party viewed this as "psyhological warfare" and cautioned the BN not fall for the trap.

"The DAP has always been very clever in manipulating issues. They can create a picture that if anything goes wrong in Sibu, it is the fault of the SUPP.

"They will come with all kinds of issues each time there is an election.

"That is what exactly happened in 1982 where SUPP's Wong Soon Kai was defeated by his DAP opponent," he said.

- Bernama