THREE Sarawak political parties have banded together to form a coalition called Gagasan Rakyat Sarawak ahead of the next general election.

The Sarawak People’s Aspiration Party (Aspirasi), Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak Baru (PBDSB) and Parti Sedar Rakyat Sarawak (Sedar) signed a memorandum of understanding for the union today and hoped the formation of the new coalition would receive the approval of the Registrar of Societies.

“We are in for the long term. We are not focusing only in the coming general election,” said John Brian Anthony, whose civil society organisation, Sarawak Interest Group, helped cobble the coalition together.

Brian, as he is better known, was a former DAP national central executive committee member.

He had quit DAP and is now the permanent chairman of PBDSB.

The three parties worked together for the first time in last December’s state elections and despite having an agreement on seat sharing, they still clashed, such as in the Bidayuh-majority seat of Opar with Sedar and PBDSB both fielding candidates.

Sedar president Othman Abdillah, however, said that kind of clash “will not happen again”.

Aspirasi president Lina Soo described the step they had taken as “one small step for us, a giant leap for Sarawak”.

She said the parties were coming together because they “believe in numbers in facing a hostile and difficult (political) environment”.

Soo said Gagasan offers an alternative to “people who are fed up with the Perikatan Nasional- Gabungan Parti Sarawak coalition, Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Harapan”.

“We subscribe to the idea that unity is strength,” a joint statement of the three party presidents stated.

Bobby William is PBDSB president.

“Each political party has its own strength so the idea is to leverage on each other’s strengths to create a synergistic relationship,” the statement added.

The three parties said Gagasan Rakyat Sarawak’s main goal is to keep the state multiracial, secular and moderate.

“Extremism in whatever form has no place in Sarawak,” they stated.

Depending on the outcome of its registration, the coalition intends to use a common symbol to contest in the general election.

Brian said despite the difficulties faced, talks are ongoing to get pro-independence party Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) as well as Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) on board.

“Today, in fact, was the deadline for them to decide if they want to be in the coalition,” he said.

“However, we’re giving them some leeway.”

He said “we are not waiting for them” as the group has to file its registration amid rumours of the general election taking place in the near future. – August 18, 2022.