Sarawak ushers in new government

Tue, 10 Sep 1996 | Source: AFP

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.

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