The BN's election manifesto to turn Sarawak into the richest state in the country is nothing more than mockery because the coalition has already had 40 years to achieve this, state DAP secretary Chong Chieng Jen said today.

"Instead, what we have been seeing are leakages and corruption, resulting in Sarawak being ranked 11th out of the 14 Malaysian states, based on the composite development index.

"They have had 40 years to make Sarawak the richest state. It is now time for Sarawakians to make the change," he said at the Sarawak DAP's daily press conference in Kuching this morning.

Party adviser Lim Kit Siang, who was also present, said it was high time the authorities investigated why Malaysia's most resource-rich state was also among the poorest.

"There must be a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate why Sarawak is still the poorest state, while its chief minister is among the richest in the country," said Lim.

Chong also rubbished claims in the BN manifesto that the coalition would protect the land rights of all Sarawakians.

"Land rights can only be guarded by amendments to the state land code. We have already tabled a draft land law reform bill to the state assembly.

"When I was reading the motion, the BN assemblypersons walked out and thus there was no quorum and the sitting was adjourned. The second time I tried, they voted against it.

"So, how can they promise to protect the rights of landowners? Their words do not match their deeds," Chong pointed out.

He also rejected incumbent Padungan state assemblyperson Dominique Ng's call for the DAP to back down from the Padungan contest, where there a three-cornered fight is taking place.

"The battle for Padungan is between the BN and Pakatan Rakyat. The decision for  the DAP to contest Padungan is a Pakatan leadership decision.

"No one man can have his wish over a whole political organisation," Chong said.

Yesterday, Ng called on DAP to withdraw from the contest, saying the party was fielding a political greenhorn while he was in a better position to retain the seat as the incumbent.

In exchange, he said, he was willing to give way to  the DAP "in the next round" and give the party his full support.

A seat swap deal involving PKR and  the DAP saw the two parties exchanging seats, with Padungan going to DAP and Batu Lintang to PKR, resulting in Ng, then the PKR representative for Pandungan, being left in the cold.

Declaring that it was unjust to drop an incumbent, Ng quit the PKR in a huff and is now running as an Independent.