The party’s state chairman, Chong Chieng Jen, made the ultimatum after revealing a handwritten agreement signed by PKR’s deputy president Azmin Ali and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng on seat allocations for 13 areas.
PKR had agreed to contest at Batu Kitang, Marudi, Layar, Machan and Belaga, according to the agreement, while DAP gave up their preferred seat of Batu Kitang and agreed to field their candidates in Senadin, Mulu, Tasik Biru, Simanggang, Mambong, Bukit Semuja, Ngemah, and Murum.
The two parties are partners in the Pakatan Harapan opposition alliance, which includes the Amanah party, which hopes to compete against the Barisan Nasional with a united front.
Chong and other DAP members have kept up pressure on PKR and its Sarawak leader Baru Bian to back off from five seats. Baru announced a list of 35 candidates with five more to be announced by Monday, nomination day for candidates to file their papers for the state elections.
The DAP leader said he was making a last attempt for PKR to honour the agreement, saying that “a party which cannot keep to an agreement they have signed will not gain the people’s trust”.
He said if PKR did not relent, one of the four DAP members present at the present conference might be fielded. The four were Chong himself, Wong King Wei, the DAP candidate-designate for Padungan, Mordi Bimol (Tasik Biru) and Abdul Aziz Isa (Stakan).
Chong said the DAP had sacrificed Batu Kitang in which, according to a Merdeka Center survey, the DAP enjoyed stronger support.
“The survey was agreed upon by both parties. It was held in six areas which are Tasik Biru, Batu Kitang, Mambong, Bukit Semuja, Simanggang, and Senadin. The result, received around two, three weeks ago, showed that DAP is more favourable than PKR. In Batu Kitang, 60% of the voters expressed support for us while only 8% were for PKR.”
He said the DAP agreed to give up Batu Kitang in order to contest more rural areas, with PKR in urban areas.
Chong said PKR’s refusal to reveal the remaining five seats was a sign that it intended to go against the electoral agreement.
“Do we have to wait until the day of the nomination? Are we going to be a sitting duck when we have been given such clear indications? They said they are still negotiating yet the last time we spoke to them was on Thursday. There was no conclusion then and until now, we haven’t heard from them.”
Sarawakians will head to the polls on May 7 to choose 82 members of the enlarged state assembly, in the state’s 11th state elections.
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