PKR Sarawak supports idea of forming new state govt — Info chief

KUCHING: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Sarawak supports the idea of forming a new state government following the call made by Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB).

Its information chief Abun Sui Anyit in a press statement yesterday said PKR Sarawak had been observing the development of parties involved in the coming polls.

“Keadilan (PKR) Sarawak is also observing PSB through its party president Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh who had proposed the idea to topple the state Barisan Nasional (BN) or Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) this time around,” Abun said, adding that PKR Sarawak also shared similar idea.

He said change of government is needed now; otherwise, the people would be ruled by the same group of people for another five years.

“Sarawakians must be bold enough to embrace change,” he stressed.

In a separate press statement yesterday, Abun said PKR Sarawak wished to contest in rural constituencies which the state Democratic Action Party (DAP) was not interested in.

This was to avoid giving GPS free walkover, he reasoned.

“Following recent comments in the media about Keadilan Sarawak being ‘greedy’ and wanting to contest more seats in the upcoming state election, we would like to reiterate that most of the seats that we are contesting are those that DAP Sarawak has limited or no grassroots presence in.

“The majority of these are seats that DAP themselves do not wish to contest. Rural seats in Sarawak are particularly challenging to win due to campaign logistics, state resource capture, a lack of digital connectivity and voter education.

“If Keadilan Sarawak does not contest in these seats, particularly the rural ones, then we will be giving GPS a free pass akin to a walkover. Keadilan Sarawak has therefore taken on the responsibility of contesting in a large number of seats in the past as a way of supporting Sarawak grassroots activists and local communities against the blatant corruption, injustice and excesses that have plagued Sarawak for far too long,” Abun explained.

However in the seats where there are currently overlapping claims with DAP, PKR Sarawak has always maintained that candidate selection must be based on clear facts, figures and candidate KPI in order to field the best winnable candidate, he said.

“In Sarawak, selecting a candidate with strong grassroots presence and support is vital. In seats that our coalition partners lost in the 2016 state election, a seat swap is reasonable if PKR is able to show they have a stronger candidate with a better chance of winning,” he said.