KUCHING: Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak candidates for the upcoming elections will be announced on October 22 in Sibu and October 23 in Kuching.
DAP Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen disclosed this to reporters last night (October 18) after the DAP STPM Reward Giving Ceremony held at DAP Sarawak Headquarters here.
“I think all of the DAP Sarawak candidates have been informed that they will be the candidates (contesting in the general election), long before the dissolution.
“For us we believe that one of the most basic requirements to become a candidate is to serve the people not only during the election time but also before it.
“So, you can see, those who are actively serving the people on the ground, you will know roughly who those candidates are, and there is no issue of having three or four candidates in the same area,” Chong said.
Chong said they will only be contesting in eight seats instead of nine, namely Bandar Kuching, Stampin, Mas Gading, Serian, Sarikei, Sibu, Lanang and Bintulu as agreed within Pakatan Harapan (PH).
“Previously there was Kapit but I think there was some negotiations, well, from our grassroots and we feel that Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Sarawak has a better candidate.
“So, even our grassroots members said to let them contest since they have a better candidate
“The working relationship amongst the PH parties in Sarawak is very good, and we will work together to capture as many seats as possible in order to help and bring about the change in capturing Putrajaya,” he added.
When asked about the seat distribution with PKR and AMANAH, he disclosed that the matter has been resolved.
“PKR will be contesting, if I am not mistaken, for 18 seats with our additional Kapit seat, for AMANAH, it will be the remainder.
“We will likely contest in all 31 parliamentary seats but since the remaining seats are unknown, they are free to strike any deal with the other parties.
“We work on a very flexible principle when it comes to the allocation of the seats and you are free to negotiate with other parties in order to strike some arrangements,” he added.
Chong also pointed out that Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) refused to work together with PH.
“The regret that we have with PSB is that they insisted to contest in Sibu, failing which, they will contest in all the parliamentary seats held by DAP, which I think if our target or aim is to defeat Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) and to prevent UMNO from returning to power, it is not logical that you want to contest a seat that has been won by the opposition.
“They insist on contesting the seat won by the opposition rather than focusing their energy, strength and resources on the seats held by GPS, which is an ever-loyal supporter of UMNO.
“So, that is the whole thing I see that made the cooperation with PSB hard to progress because they insist on wanting the Sibu seat and have threatened us that if we do not give Sibu up, they will fight for every seat,” he concluded.
