KUCHING (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - An urban swing back to the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, which led the opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) to lose five state seats, contributed to the BN's strong performance at Saturday's (May 7) Sarawak state election, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said.

"This caused DAP to lose five of the 12 seats it won in the last state election. This 'urban swing' shows a revival of SUPP specifically," the Prime Minister told a press conference at the old State Assembly building on Saturday, referring to the BN member Sarawak United People's Party.

Najib said that with SUPP's recovery and that of other BN component parties, the coalition would be able to grow stronger as a family that has shown it can work well with each other.

The Prime Minister said the strong cooperation between the state and federal governments would allow BN to deliver all its pledges to the voters.

Najib thanked the voters and said the federal government would continue to discuss with the state government on empowering Sarawak within the scope of the Malaysian Constitution.

He said the results would give the BN a stronger momentum towards the next general election.

Meanwhile, Najib also expressed his sadness over the tragic helicopter crash that killed five people, including a deputy minister.

"I would be remiss not to mention our sadness because we lost our friends in the helicopter tragedy," he said.

Najib later went to Sarawak General Hospital to meet the families of the victims of the crash.