Grow up, stop feud over seats

Pakatan Harapan leader says politicians in Sarawak must see the "bigger picture" as the central leadership has chosen “winnable” candidates.

PETALING JAYA: A Pakatan Harapan leader has advised component party leaders in Sarawak to “grow up” following the tussle for seats in the run-up to the state election.

“They should see the bigger picture.

“We will only have ourselves to blame if we fail to make an impact in the Sarawak election.

“Any decision to contest against each other will mean the death of people’s hopes in Pakatan Harapan,” the political leader told FMT on condition of anonymity.

The PH leader was commenting on Sarawak PKR’s insistence on contesting in several seats which DAP was hoping to contest in.

This was despite the agreement reached earlier between PKR Deputy President Azmin Ali and DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng after lengthy negotiations.

The source said all this boiled down to collective discipline.

The Pakatan Harapan leader explained that at the end of the day, PKR and DAP hopefuls should adhere to the decision made by the coalition’s central leadership.

He said the central leadership was very objective when deciding who was the most winnable candidate, irrespective of claims made by Sarawak PKR or DAP about how popular they were in certain areas.

In all cases, the decision was made following lengthy discussions held at the state and central level, taking into account factors such as the performance of the incumbents, background of the hopefuls as well as interviews.

“It is not based on who Lim Kit Siang or Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail likes. Sabah and Sarawak are given full autonomy when picking candidates,” the PH leader said, alluding to the DAP supremo and PKR president respectively.

The source also warned that if Sarawak PKR and DAP decided to ignore the candidates chosen by the central leadership, it would spell the premature end of Pakatan.

“We should stand united in our fight against BN.”