PH to use previous seat arrangement for next state polls — Chong

Chong (left) with Amanah deputy president Datuk Salahudin Ayub at the press conference.

KUCHING, Sept 29: Sarawak Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Chong Chien Jen said he did not foresee any seat allocation problem with its coalition partners for the coming 12th state election.

Speaking at state Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah)’s election machinery launching ceremony today, Chong said Amanah took on 13 seats in the 11th state elections.

“In principle, we will follow the last state election’s arrangement,” Chong said.

He revealed that the state Democratic Action Party (DAP) was eyeing 29 seats, while Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) would take 40 seats.

The Sarawak State Assembly has 82 seats.

Praising Amanah for their initiative to prepare early, Chong said the DAP and PKR should be doing the same, too.

“Sarawak PH will finalise the seat allocation early to avoid fighting for seats at the last minute, causing two or more cornered fights. The rakyat doesn’t like to see us fighting,” Chong opined.

Citing an example in the 2016 state election, he said the DAP and PKR faced each other in six seats due to last-minute disagreements.

“Because of that, we have come up with a formula for the six seats that PH lost in 2016. DAP did better in three seats, while PKR got more votes in the other three. So this time, we will take on the three that we garnered more and PKR will take the other three,” he added.

Chong reminded PH members not to wait for “durian runtuh” but to work hard and show a united front to take on the ruling Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS). — DayakDaily