Pakatan Rakyat component parties have given themselves 14 days to sort out overlapping claims over seats to be contested in the state elections, which is likely to be held next month.           

Today’s meeting of the Sarawak Pakatan council did not deal with the details of seat allocations as earlier expected, but merely to decide on the time frame for the component parties to resolve their overlapping claims.

The Sarawak Pakatan council comprises top leaders from four component parties - PKR, DAP, PAS and Snap.

anwar ibrahim function in miri - wong ho leng speaking

Sarawak DAP chairman Wong Ho Leng, speaking to reporters after the Pakatan council meeting, explained that the overlapping claims did not involve Pakatan as a whole.

“DAP, for example, and Sarawak National Party (Snap) have no overlapping claims over the seats they want to contest.

“On the other hand, DAP and PKR have overlapping claims on some seats, so are PKR and PAS, and PKR and Snap,” said Wong, who is the Bukit Assek state assemblyperson.

“Therefore, we give ourselves time to conclude the seat negotiations over the next two weeks, and hopefully by that time, the Sarawak state assembly would have been dissolved to pave the way for the state elections,” he added.

“By that time, we are ready for the bell to ring for the elections,” he said, adding that two weeks were not that long for the Pakatan component parties to sort out the clashes over the seats.

Wong said Pakatan priority was to face the BN in straight fights in all 71 seats of the State Assembly.

He also dismissed claims by BN leaders that there were squabbling and bickering among the Pakatan component parties.

“The BN leaders, particularly Deputy Chief Minister and Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB) deputy president Alfred Jabu Numpang, should not be overly happy that the DAP, PKR, PAS and Snap, are involved or entangled in internal squabbles. We are not,” he said.

Objective is to win, if not deny two-thirds majority

He said Pakatan component parties would come up with a common manifesto for the elections.

“The draft of the joint manifesto is ready, and it will soon be forwarded to the Pakatan component parties for vetting and approval,” he said.

Wong also stated that Pakatan component parties would not use a common logo as it was not possible to register it in time for the state polls.

azlan “Our objective is to win 36 to have a simple majority to form the next state government. If we can’t, then we aim to win 24 seats to deny the state BN two-thirds majority,” he added.

Pakatan currently has seven seats - DAP, 6, and PKR, 1.

Asked how confidence he was that PKR would perform well in the elections, he replied: “Did you hear BN leaders mentioning at their BN convention yesterday saying that they were going to face a totally different opposition, a lot stronger, very organised and with lots of resources.

“I admit we are very well-organised, but rich in resources? We are still very poor compared to the Barisan,” he said.

Wong said the rich states of Penang and Selangor were not going to provide their resources for the Pakatan parties in the elections.

“That is very mischievous for the BN leaders to say we are funded by Penang and Selangor government. We do not get funds from them as we are political parties.,” he said.

Principle of winnability paramount

Sarawak DAP vice-chairman Chong Siew Chiang said the principle of which party had a better chance of winning should be applied in allocating seats to the respective Pakatan component parties.

He said it was not based on the principle of incumbency in allocating the seats.

“The principle of incumbency does not apply in Pakatan,” he said, adding that there had never been any talk about incumbency in agreeing to the allocation.

He said the party, not the candidate, with the best chance of winning would be given the chance to contest.

nicholas bawin pkr candidate for batang ai state seat 270209 05 Sarawak PKR director of operations, Nicholas Bawin, stressed that it was crucial for the component parties to have amicable ties with one another.

“I believe that unity among the four parties is very important for this coming elections, and we must maintain a good working relationship with one another so that we are a force to be reckoned with,” he said.

He said the people on the ground were expecting a change in the upcoming elections.

Bawin said the background of PKR’s prospective candidates had been thoroughly checked to prevent ‘frogging’ (defection) in the event that they won in the elections.

“Over the last two years, we have checked their credibility, their commitment to our struggle and aspirations, and we are satisfied with what we have found out,” he said.

“If we in Pakatan must work hard and show our unity, I am sure we can win,” he added.