A screenshot of Chong during his Facebook livestream today.
KUCHING (Jan 31): Pakatan Harapan (PH) Sarawak is open to negotiation with Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) on seats allocation in the next state election once the Movement Control Order (MCO) and Conditional MCO have been lifted, said its state chairman Chong Chieng Jen.
If cooperation is possible, Chong was proposing a formula of ‘3+3+3+1’, meaning 30 per cent of the state constituency seats to be contested by Democratic Action Party (DAP), Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and PSB each, while Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) would be contesting the remaining 10 per cent of the seats.
“Maybe some slight adjustment can be made to the proportions of seats to be contested by each political party. We do not want to be like what happened in the state ruling Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) coalition, where you have one dominant party that is the Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) or like the party Umno in the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition,” said Chong.
Chong, who is state DAP chairman, said having one dominant political party in a coalition was unhealthy and PSB should more or less abide to the ‘3+3+3+1’ formula if any formal cooperation could be materialised.
“I think for PH coalition, we are open to working with any genuine opposition party that is credible and has integrity. Also, it is important and also good that we can come into some form of consensus with PSB, if its possible,” said Chong in his Facebook livestream today.
Chong said the issue of working together for the next state election would depend greatly on how both sides of PH and PSB approach the delicate matter.
“So long as the opposition parties subscribe to the principles of clean governance, fairness and justice, there is always room to work together and most importantly, in terms of seats allocation,” he said.
As to provide a serious contest in the next state election, Chong said the state PH coalition parties, namely DAP, PKR and Amanah had, for the first time, able to achieve consensus on seats allocation way earlier before the election is due to be called.
In a press conference called by PH Sarawak on Jan 2 this year, Chong announced that PKR will be contesting 47 seats in the state election, DAP in 26 seats and Amanah in 9 seats.
Nonetheless, Chong stressed he did not foresee a state election would be called soon during this period of Covid-19 outbreak and the people’s livelihood as well as the struggle to contain the local outbreak should be prioritised.
The term of the current State Legislative Assembly was supposed to expire on June 6 this year with the polls must be held within 60 days in accordance with the state constitution.
However, the state election was put on hold after a State of Emergency had been proclaimed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Jan 12 and to be effective until Aug 1 this year due to the worsening Covid-19 outbreak in the country.
The Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance 2021 among others stipulated that general elections, state elections and by-elections, as well as Parliament and State Legislative Assembly sittings will not be held as long as the emergency is in force.
On a separate matter, Chong hoped a stronger opposition presence to represent the rural areas in the state legislative assembly, or forming of a new state government, would be able to champion for the rights and welfare of the rural folks that had long been neglected, especially on matters related to the native customary rights (NCR) land.
He also urged the state government and the Ministry of Local Government and Housing to fine tune the assistance package offered to hawkers and business community in the state to ensure the intended benefits could effectively reach the targeted recipients.
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