By Ling Hui
KUCHING, Dec 3: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) has announced the candidates of only 27 seats for the 12th Sarawak Election (PRN12) instead of the 47 that they had originally planned for.
PKR secretary-general Joshua Jabeng said during a press conference at PKR headquarters here today that the strategy “has changed” and the party would focus on winning rather than just contesting in as many seats as possible.
“The rationale behind this is not just to contest, but more importantly to win. So we are talking about winning and not just contesting.
“It will be good to field everybody in every seat, but winning is another story. This time, we want to focus on winning,” he said, adding that he was confident that PKR will bag all 27 seats.
Among the 27, Joshua named Munan Laja as the candidate for Katibas, Roland Engan for Mulu, Abg Zulkifli Abg Engkeh for Beting Maro, and Cherishe Ng for Batu Lintang.
Munan Laja was president for both Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (Sadia) and Sarawak Workers’ Party (SWP) until he resigned from his post in 2019 and 2020, respectively.
In the 2016 State Election, Roland was PKR’s candidate for the Telang Usan seat which he had lost to incumbent Dennis Ngau, with a slim margin of only 167 votes.
Similarly, a former PKR candidate, Abg Zulkifli contested in Lingga in the previous Sarawak polls against incumbent Simoi Peri and Wan Abdillah Edruce Wan Abdul Rahman from Bebas, in which he lost by 2,943 votes.
Ng, who is also PKR Women secretary and daughter of PKR Kuching branch chairman Dominique Ng, is one of the youngest candidates in this coming election.
Joshua himself will remain to fight for Kakus again after losing in the 2016 Sarawak Election to incumbent John Siki Tayai with only 1,843 votes against 7,054 votes.
Meanwhile, the other 22 PKR candidates are Meneng Biris (Opar), Ahmad Nazib Johari (Tupong), Nor Dahlia Esapian Eyau (Satok), Mahmud Epah (Asajaya), Micahel Sawing (Serumbu), Christo Michael (Tarat), Senior William Rade (Tebedu), Piee Bin Ling (Sadong Jaya), Abg Abd Kasim Abg Bujang (Lingga), Patrick Kamis (Saribas), Mikail Mathew Abdullah (Bukit Saban), Satu Anchom (Ngemah), M Fauzi Joseph Usit (Machan), Mohd Arwin Abdullah (Telian), Abd Jalil Bujang (Balingian), Ani Amat (Murum), Norhafizah Johari (Bekenu), Zolhaidah Suboh (Lambir), Elias Lipi (Marudi), Philip Jau Ding (Telang Usan), Racha Balang (Batu Danau), and Martin Samuel Labo (Ba’kelalan). — DayakDaily
