INTERVIEW | Pakatan Harapan once saw a glimmer of hope in capturing Sarawak during its 22-month tenure in Putrajaya, despite the state ruling coalition Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) sweeping 72 seats out of the total 82 in the State Legislative Assembly in the 2016 state election.

However, the political momentum crashed with the Sheraton Move, the February political coup which led to the collapse of Harapan at the federal level. It is generally believed that GPS will easily retain power and perhaps even wrest back the seats controlled by the opposition at the next state election.

In an interview with Malaysiakini last week, Sarawak Harapan chief Chong Chieng Jen (above) spoke of how the underdog opposition will be going against all odds in the forthcoming state election, which must be held the latest by August next year.

Harapan is eyeing to emerge as a stronger opposition to play a more effective role in keeping the state government in check. It plans to achieve this by working with other like-minded parties which share the same goals, said Chong.

He revealed that Sarawak Harapan has started ...