Sarawak ushers in new government

Sarawak ushers in new government

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): The new state government of Malaysia's
timber-rich Sarawak was sworn yesterday following the landslide
victory of the ruling National Front coalition, which however was
denied a clean sweep.

The opposition clinched five of the 62 seats in the state
legislature. The main opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP)
took three seats and independent candidates two.

For the DAP it was a breakthrough in the state's political
history: it has won representation in the state legislature for
the first time in 18 years.

Overall, the National Front won 57 seats, 19 of them
uncontested, but was reeling from the defeat of Sarawak's deputy
chief minister Wong Soon Kai.