GE13 WATCH While questions have been raised as to whether Sarawak continues to remain a ‘fixed deposit state' for BN, there is no doubt that the ruling coalition's component parties in the rich Borneo state must quickly resolve their internal problems ahead of the 13th general election.

Of the 57 parliamentary seats in East Malaysia, the BN parties in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan contributed 55 seats in the 2008 general election, while the BN secured 85 parliamentary seats in the peninsula, with Pakatan Rakyat taking the other 80 seats.

In Sarawak, BN lost only one constituency - Bandar Kuching - out of 31 parliamentary seats in 2008, and later another seat, Sibu, in the May 2010 by-election.

But since the last general election, the four BN members - Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Sarawak United Peoples' Party (SUPP), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) - are embroiled in their own internal problems...