KUCHING – Opposition parties in Sarawak must unite to form a pact in order to score a big win or at least mount a serious challenge to the ruling Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) coalition in the coming state election, said Baru Bian.
The former federal minister said this when asked on PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s comment to reporters in Kuching on Saturday that his party is still open to working with Bian’s Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB).
Anwar made a lightning visit to Kuching and Miri to launch PKR’s election machinery for the twelfth state election, which is likely to be hosted next month.
Anwar had said: “We are still in the midst of negotiations but their terms must be reasonable. We have always held the position that the opposition must remain united in order to avoid multi-cornered fights.”
Bian, a member of PSB presidential council, said he welcomes PKR’s continued negotiations and feels that his party’s leadership will explore such a move.
Bian, a former federal works minister, was with PKR before he quit the party in early 2020.
He was a state assemblyman from 2011 to 2018, and has been the rep for Ba’kelalan since then.
“Personally, I welcome this idea. We have learned from previous elections that the best chances of scoring a bigger win against the main opponent (GPS) would be in a straight one-to-one fight.
“I think the PSB leadership will also see the wisdom of this strategy as a positive gesture between opposition parties. I am also sure our voters and supporters will welcome this idea so that they too will have a clear choice on who they want to vote for as their representatives in the state assembly,” he said.
There are speculations that the Ba’kelalan incumbent and two-term assemblyman is likely to face a three-cornered fight against candidates from PKR, Progressive Democratic Party, and Parti Bumi Kenyalang.
An unexpected independent candidate, former state PKR women’s chief Agnes Padan, is also vying to pitch her candidacy as an independent in Ba’kelalan, although a tag under her Facebook profile photo reads: “Vote for Agnes Padan. Agnes Padan will contest in the 12th Sarawak State Election N82 Bukit Sari".
However, local daily Borneo Post has reported today that Padan, a rural health activist, will contest in Ba’kelalan.
Ba’kelalan has 19 polling districts and an estimated voter bank of more than 7,000, largely from the Lun Bawang tribe.
The Sarawak assembly was dissolved on November 3. The state election must be held within 60 days of the dissolution of the state assembly. – The Vibes, November 22, 2021
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