KUCHING, Jan 10: Pakatan Harapan (PH) Sarawak has autonomy to decide on its candidates for seats and the seat allocations in Sarawak, says Dr Kelvin Yii.
Yii, special assistant to state DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen, said this autonomy was proven during the recent announcement by PH leadership at the PH Convention with regards to seat allocations in West Malaysia.
He said this had broken the myth and countered accusations that DAP or PH Sarawak are “Malaya” parties and that voting for them will mean that Sarawakians are bowing down to the wishes of “Malaya”.
“Fact of the matter is that we are Sarawakians fighting for the rights and interest of Sarawak on a national platform to provide a better alternative and government-in-waiting against the current ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government,” he said in a press statement today.
On Sunday, the national PH leaders announced that the seat negotiations in West Malaysia on the parliamentary level has been settled and finalised, leaving out the numbers of seats for Sabah and Sarawak. They also named a PM candidate.
“While some quarters have jumped and criticised us claiming that Pakatan Harapan does not care about Sabah and Sarawak, but fact of the matter is the national leaders do not interfere in the selection of candidates nor the negotiation of seats in Sabah and Sarawak,” he stressed.
State PH leaders have already announced that state PKR and DAP will contest in the seats each earlier contested in the 2013 general election, while Amanah will go for seats contested by PAS.
“There is a spirit of consensus with the Pakatan Harapan coalition of the importance of Sabah and Sarawak and our special standing and special rights in the federation. That is why in our manifesto for Sarawak, we pledge to recognise our rights under the Malaysian Agreement 1963.”
Even with this autonomy, Yii said that the Opposition parties here are part of a bigger national coalition to offer a better alternative to the people and to topple the corrupt ruling BN government.
“We have joint resources, joint machinery, and joint knowledge, which is needed to topple BN who has all the money and have been in power for more than 50 years.
Besides that, he said PH also offers different policies that are people-centric to address issues faced by the people including policies to reduce the cost of living, policies to fight corruption and policies to reform the important institutions including the MACC, AG’s office, and Election Commission (EC) among others.
“We, Pakatan Harapan are not only offering a choice for a leader, but we are offering answers to the problems we face in our country now. And with the track record we have in Penang and Selangor, we have the experience to bring this country to better heights,” he said. — DayakDaily
