KUALA LUMPUR – Pakatan Harapan (PH) chief Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is claiming his party PKR has been given by its allies the impossible task of contesting “unwinnable seats” in Sarawak.
Speaking to reporters after a programme in Port Dickson, the PKR president revealed that the party was originally supposed to contest in 45 seats in the state election, but chose to only focus its resources on 29.
He went on to say that seats that are traditionally more competitive have been demanded by the other parties.
“The seats with no base, no hope for these parties, they left it (to us), and say ‘PKR better contest’ because otherwise, you will allow Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) to win uncontested.”
GPS is the incumbent Sarawak government and comprises parties formerly part of the Barisan Nasional coalition.
“So, we are burdened with this (unwinnable seats), and people perceive PKR as greedy.
We are fighting for seats that we can win, in ‘Category A’, but we are given seats in ‘Category F’.”
Anwar said despite the overwhelming disadvantage in these seats, PKR has decided to contest some of them as the party already has a base there, unlike others in PH.
“But we can’t be expected to do the same (for all the seats). That’s why I left it to the state leaders to decide, but my advice is it doesn’t necessarily mean we have to contest in these seats.
“That’s why they reduced from 45 to about 29 now. I said ‘please, put an end to this’.”
It is understood that PH had an agreement that would see PKR contesting 47 seats, DAP 26, and Amanah, nine.
To date, PKR has announced names for 28 seats in the 82-seat Sarawak assembly, while DAP has announced all of its candidates. Amanah has yet to name all its candidates.
Asked on Barisan Nasional and Bersatu’s (under Perikatan Nasional) decision to stay out of the Sarawak election, Anwar said this is a clear indication the two coalitions do not have a base in the Bornean state.
As a convenient strategy, they just support GPS, but in actual fact, they don’t have a base there.”
On PKR’s Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim’s proposal for the party to go at it alone in the next general election, amid calls from within PH for Anwar to step down following the Melaka defeat, Anwar said these are merely personal opinions.
“We can discuss, there is no problem. We respect every view. Everyone is giving their own excuses and interpretations on why we lost in Melaka. We must study it. It’s okay.”
In a Facebook post on December 1, Hassan had said that Anwar is being treated with disrespect by his own allies in PH, adding PKR members must be prepared with the possibility of the party contesting on its own in future elections.
“We will not beg for our president to be the prime minister candidate. We will also not beg for PH to use our party’s logo. At that time, let us be the only ones using our logo and enter the election alone.”
The relationship between parties within PH has been somewhat fractious of late, after certain groups within the coalition urged for Anwar to relinquish his throne and allow fresh blood to lead the pact. – The Vibes, December 4, 2021
