PKR keeps all its seats, regrets infighting
Published on: Sunday, May 08, 2016
Kuching: Sarawak PKR has successfully defended all three seats it brought into the 2011 state election.State PKR chief Baru Bian started the streak by retaining his Ba'kelalan seat with a majority, of 538 votes.Baru polled 2,858 votes versus the 2,320 captured by his Barisan Nasional opponent, Willie Lau.ADVERTISEMENT "I wish to salute the people of Ba'Kelalan for their impressive fortitude in the face of intense pressure from the Barisan Nasional," he said.But he also offered an olive branch to DAP, saying they must now close ranks despite the infighting before the polls or risked being punished by voters.The 538-vote majority was above the 473 margin he secured in the 2011 election."We recognise that we are still facing uphill battles. Apart from resources and logistical challenges, we have also experienced difficulties in six seats that overlapped with our coalition partner DAP. There are lessons to be learned for both sides from this.ADVERTISEMENT "If we do not come together as a team, Pakatan Harapan will be punished by the voters. We have to work as a coalition rather than as individual parties to make further inroads into the constituencies."The Sarawak state election is a midterm review for Barisan Nasional, as well as a test for the opposition coalition building progress. We now can confidently say that a united opposition front is the only formula to face BN in the next General Election, as we have seen in the last few elections," the Ba' Kelalan assemblyman said. The party also retained its Krian seat where Ali Biju won, but by a smaller margin this time.
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Ali saw off the challenge of BN's Kilat Beriak by over 1,600 votes, down from the 2,090 margin he had five years ago.See Chee How rounded out the defence by winning in Batu Lintang, taking 8,598 votes against BN's Sih Hua Tong, who is SUPP publicity chief, with his 5,146 ballots. STAR president Lina Soo will lose her deposit after receiving just 275 votes.But See's margin is sharply lower than the 8,381 he managed in 2011.DAP secured its first win in the election when it retained Bukit Assek, the seat previously held by late state chairman Wong Ho Leng.Irene Mary Chang, Wong's widow, took 11,392 votes against BN-SUPP candidate Chieng Buong Toon (6,895) and Star's Moh Hiong King (374).PKR Vice President Dr Xavier Jeyakumar expressed disappointment that PKR did badly in the state elections, blaming the banning of its leaders from Peninsular Malaysia to enter Sarawak as one of the reasons."The ban has definitely affected on the outcome of the results," he said.He also said the amount of money poured in by the Barisan Nasional from April 26 to May 6 was massive."An estimated RM382.8 million worth of promises were reported to have been made by the Barisan leaders, including Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem during the campaign," he said.He said PKR will keep an eye on those promises over the next five years."We are very unsatisfied with the Election Commission for not interfering with the massive of money politics," Jeyakumar said, stressing that the blatant use of money politics definitely affected the outcome of the elections in favour of the State Barisan.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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Jeyakumar, however, said that the opposition has one and half years to make the necessary remedial actions before the 2018 general elections is held."If we want to work as a coalition, we should give priority to the coalition, not on your party," he said referring to the break-up in the seat negotiation between PKR and DAP before the May 7 state elections.