SARAWAK DAP has proposed the overlapping claims it has with its Pakatan Harapan coalition partner PKR on six seats in the 2016 state election be split down the middle.

“The party that did better than the other should get the certain seat,” state DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen said after a state committee meeting last night.

“We did better in three seats and they did better in the other three,” Chong said.

The seats in dispute are the Dayak-majority seats of Mambong, Simanggang, Ngemah, Mulu, Murum and the mixed seat of Batu Kitang.

All the seats were won by the then state Barisan Nasional as PKR and DAP tripped over one another.

Chong said based on its proposal, DAP should get the Bidayuh-majority seat of Mambong, the Iban-majority seat of Simanggang and Batu Kitang, where they performed better electorally while PKR should take the rural seats of Ngemah, Mulu and Murum.

Chong said the proposal was endorsed by the committee and the party had conveyed its stand to PKR and its coalition partner, Amanah.

DAP’s proposal was raised at PH’s state committee meeting last week, according to a PKR source, but no decision was made then.

Chong, last night, however, said Amanah had agreed to the proposal while PKR had stated it needed more time to deliberate further.

“It’s a fair arrangement,” the Bandar Kuching MP and Kota Sentosa assemblyman said.

He said DAP would pursue the proposal further in future meetings with PKR and Amanah, he also added there was no room for any last-minute changes.

“I see no reason for anymore negotiations or bargains.”

If the proposal is accepted by PH, DAP will have 29 seats, PKR (40) and Amanah (13).

Chong, who is also PH state chairman, said the two seats BN won uncontested in the 2016 polls because DAP and PKR could not find suitable candidates to field – Bukit Kota in Limbang and Bukit Sari in Lawas – would not go uncontested.

He said PKR would field a candidate in Bukit Sari while DAP would do so in Bukit Kota.

Both seats were won by Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB).

Chong said Sarawak PH’s performance in the 14th general election showed that it was wise to decide on seat allocations early on.

“We (Sarawak PH) were the first state in the country to reach a consensus on seat allocation.”

PH Sarawak won 10 out of 31 parliamentary seats. The number was later bolstered when two independents – Julau and Lubok Antu – joined PKR. – July 16, 2018.