While DAP may be coveting for Putrajaya, it does not have its eye on the prime minister’s position said party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.

In his policy speech at the national DAP conference today, Lim said DAP only has one candidate for the position and that is PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.

dap conference 080112 lim guan eng "No DAP leader has ambition or has ever offered themselves as prime minister. There is only one person who will be prime minister and that is Anwar Ibrahim," he said.

Tomorrow, the High Court will deliver its verdict over the fate of Anwar who has been accused of sodomising his aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

This had opened up the question of whether Pakatan Rakyat has a backup candidate for the prime minister’s position, going into the next general election.

Lim stressed the country's prime minister's seat will be for Anwar regardless if he is jailed or not.

"I want reassert our party's firm commitment and solidarity with Anwar as leader of Pakatan and opposition leader. We stand behind him as our alternative Prime Minister and whatever the outcome of his trial tomorrow, we will continue to support him.

"The focus is not about Anwar but about how to win the next general elections. We wish him good luck tomorrow and may he dream the Malaysian dream with us."

18 seats in Sabah and Sarawak

Outlining Pakatan's minimum performance required to capture Putrajaya, Lim said the opposition must capture at least one third of parliamentary seats in Sabah and Sarawak.

"For Sabah and Sarawak, we cannot only win 2 of 56 parliamentary seats as in 2008 elections. This is too big a handicap to give to BN.

"We need to win one third or 18 parliamentary seats. DAP can help by winning a bulk of the 18 seats."

Lim adds that Sarawak DAP will help pioneer the efforts in East Malaysia to capture at least 18 seats.

Lim also took a swipe at BN for losing focus of the people’s needs, stressing that DAP’s focus will be on rising cost of living come general election.

"To realise the Malaysian Dream of a developed nation we must reject a 'police state' in favour of a 'policy state' that focuses on improving the quality of life and reducing the cost of living of ordinary rakyat."