CENTRAL PKR leaders have put pressure on its Sarawak leaders to continue electoral cooperation talks with Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) for the upcoming state polls.

Sarawak Pakatan Harapan had been in charge of the discussions, but its leaders, including from PKR, have given up on the extensive exchange of views.

PKR president Anwar Ibrahim and party leader Sivarasa Rasiah have both called for the process to continue.

PKR has always held the position that the opposition must remain united, said Anwar, who will be launching the Sarawak PKR election machinery in Kuching and Miri today.

The terms of the discussions must also be reasonable, he added.

“As a new party, they (PSB) should be reasonable to insist on seats that they have a strong basis to claim.”

On whether a deadline has been set to wrap up the talks, he said he leaves it to his state leaders to decide.

It was reported that the cause of communication breakdown is due to DAP and PSB being unable to agree on who will stand in seats in Chinese-majority areas. Animosity and mistrust between Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen and PSB president Wong Soon Koh have also compounded the situation.

DAP had often targeted Wong in and out of the state assembly when the latter was in the state cabinet for 14 years, starting from when he was still with the Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP).

PSB was formed by dissidents and sacked SUPP members.

Anwar said the seat dispute that boiled over when both DAP and PKR fielded candidates in same seats in the last election will not recur in the upcoming polls.

The argument is “a small matter” that “can be easily discussed”, he added.

The two parties fought each other in Mulu, Murum, Ngemah, Batu Kitang, Mambong and Simanggang – and lost them all.

In the then new urban seat of Batu Kitang, DAP fielded Abdul Aziz Isa, who was Chong’s special assistant, while PKR fielded Voon Shiak Ni, then party national women vice-chief.

Aziz won 4,626 votes, while Voon won a mere 883. Barisan Nasional–SUPP candidate Lo Khere Chiang, who won 6,466 votes, walked away with a 1,840 vote majority.

Two independents, Othman Bojeng (54 votes) and Sulaiman Kadir (61 votes), made it a five-cornered contest. – November 20, 2021.