By Nancy Nais
KUCHING, Nov 20: Negotiations on seat allocations for the 12th Sarawak Election are still ongoing among Pakatan Harapan (PH) component parties as well as Parti Sarawak Bersatu and other Opposition parties, said national Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Earlier today, Sungai Buloh MP R Sivarasa said the PKR state leadership council (MPN) has made the decision not to negotiate with other Sarawak Opposition parties.
Sivarasa, who spoke to some 100 members at the launch of the party’s election machinery here in Kuching said, “MPN has decided not to negotiate anymore. It is understandable why they chose to stop, but my advice is that all of you should continue to discuss to avoid overlapping seats.
“Look at our past election experiences, where there were overlapping seats with Democratic Action Party (DAP) and in the end, we lost. It is a high price to pay. There is still time to negotiate and this election is going to be a big challenge. So please negotiate and work together with other parties so that we can maximise our achievements this time.”
However, when asked by reporters after the event, Anwar insisted they are still negotiating to reach a consensus.
“When the day comes, I believe there will be no overlapping seats. We have always held the position that the Opposition must remain united and negotiate with reasonable terms.
“However, as a new party, they (PSB) should be reasonable when insisting on seats that they have a strong basis to claim,” he said.
Anwar added that there will be a deadline for negotiation, which includes the number of seats and finalising the candidates, but he will leave it to MPN to decide.
He also opined that no matter how ‘thorough’ the party filters their candidates, the temptation of money and power is sometimes too strong.
This, Anwar said, has made their representatives or leaders jump to other parties which is against the aspirations of the people of Sarawak.
“It is a strong temptation that causes them to betray not only the party that allowed them to be elected but also the trust and the people they represent.”
Meanwhile, Anwar is set to launch a similar event in Miri later today. — DayakDaily
