Pakatan Sarawak eyeing all 31 MP seats

The opposition coalition in the state is all geared up for the 13th general election.

KUCHING: Pakatan Rakyat Sarawak will contest all the 31 parliamentary seats in the 13th general election.

The final list of seats to be contested by DAP, PKR and PAS – which are members of the Pakatan coalition – will be made known on Oct 2 when the three meet for the second time.

“We can only tell you on Oct 2. By then we can tell you which party will contest in which constituency,” Sarawak DAP chairman, Wong Ho Leng, said after chairing the first meeting on seat allocation yesterday.

PAS was absent at the meeting as its leaders were away attending courses in Peninsular Malaysia.

“We have very minimal overlapping of seats with PAS, so there should be no problem,” added Wong.

DAP is eyeing between 10 and 15 seats including some rural or semi-urban seats.

Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian said the three parties are confident that the overlapping of seats will be solved soon.

“The coming general election is very crucial for Pakatan and it is vital that we decide on seat overlapping claims.

“We have agreed on certain seats, but there are a few that need further discussions,” Bian said.

Smoother negotiations

Bian said that negotiations were moving fast and that talks on seat allocations for the general election were going smoother than for the state election.

“The negotiations are going very well,” he added.

PKR has expressed interest in 12 to 15 seats subject to negotiations with the other Pakatan partners.

“We too have minimal overlapping claims with PAS,” he said.

Earlier, Wong said that the three parties are quite certain that the general election is around the corner, especially after Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had announced the repeal of the Internal Security Act and the amendments and reviews of other draconian laws.

“The bell is ringing, and Pakatan must conclude negotiations in earnest…

“We have for the first time sat in Kuching and have reached agreement on certain seats, but there are still some overlapping claims…

“We will give you the full list on Oct 2 when we meet again.

“We are duty-bound to ensure that Pakatan will win as many seats as possible in Sarawak in order to contribute to the number of seats that will enable us to move forward to Putrajaya,” said Wong, who is the Sibu MP.

Both Wong and Bian agreed that they have no difficulty selecting candidates for the various seats they are going to contest.

Said Wong: “As far as both DAP and PKR are concerned, we will not ask any Tom, Dick and Harry to contest. We have learnt a lesson.

“Candidates wishing to contest must be on the ground; otherwise how do we know which candidates get the support of the voters?” he said.

Asked whether he and Chong Chieng, the Bandar Kuching MP, would defend their seats, Wong said: “I cannot tell you now.

“We leave it to the DAP select committee to choose, and by Oct 2, you should be able to know,” he said.

Only Wong and Chong are MPs from Sarawak.