KUCHING: All the opposition parties in Sarawak are trying to create a situation where they can fight against Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) one-on-one in the next general election.
However, the main issues would be if they continue to sign separate memorandums of understanding (MoU) or agreements, these will eventually end up with overlapping seats.
Political analyst Professor James Chin from the University of Tasmania’s Asia Institute said they should instead have only one agreement which involves all the opposition parties together.
“But it is quite impossible for this to happen despite Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB), as the main opposition in the state, trying to lead the negotiation with other parties,” he said when contacted.
“Some local and smaller opposition parties do not want to be in a coalition that would include Malaya parties. Besides, many people just don’t like DAP,” he said.
Therefore, he said, it would be very difficult for all the opposition parties in Sarawak to be on the same page to avoid seat overlapping and vote splitting in the 15th General Election (GE15).
On Sunday, PSB and Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) said they would enter into a written MoU soon to avoid clashing claims for seats in GE15.
The parties in a joint-statement said “local-based parties like PSB and PBK” must be represented in the Malaysian Parliament so as to bring a direct voice from Sarawak to the Malaysian Parliament and to report back to Sarawakians on the decisions of the Malaysian Parliament.
This was despite the ongoing talks between PSB and DAP to avoid overlapping seats in GE15.
Following the announcement by the two local opposition parties, Sarawak DAP Chairman Chong Chieng Jen said it was perplexing for PSB President Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh to hit out at DAP rather than focusing his criticism on the GPS.
He said political reality and the overall national political landscape dictate that a national party has the advantage over any local-based party which is confined only to a state.
“Whether he (Wong) agrees to this view or otherwise, there is no need for his attack on DAP for holding such a view,” he said.
Chong said the issue concerning the people would not be whether a party is a local-party or otherwise, but rather a party or coalition that has the holistic and national plan to reset the country and get the people out of the current doldrums.
“It is pertinent that the Opposition parties in Sarawak should stop singing the same tune as the GPS in advocating the parochial local-party doctrine and fanning the regionalism sentiment to cloud the real issues facing the people,” he added.
