Harapan squabbles ahead of S’wak polls, now over Senadin

(Malaysiakini) – PKR today told off Sarawak DAP secretary Alan Ling for purportedly giving the impression that the former’s machinery in Senadin exists only to assist DAP.

PKR Senadin election director Lee Chean Chung (pic) said Ling’s response to speculation that he might contest the state seat was “uncalled for”, thus marking squabbles in Pakatan Harapan ahead of the imminent state election.

“I feel that the statement he made was uncalled for because as Sarawak DAP secretary, Ling should have raised the issue at the Pakatan Harapan secretariat.

“Ling also congratulated PKR over the officiating of its Senadin operations centre, saying it will strengthen DAP when the party contests there.

“This is confusing and belittles PKR’s efforts in Senadin all this while,” Lee, who is also Semambu assemblyperson, said in a statement.

“This operations centre is not meant to assist DAP, but is for the rakyat,” Lee emphasised.

Ling was reported to have said this in an article by Sin Chew yesterday.

Lee said PKR has repeatedly contested in Senadin, and had even – in 2011 – narrowly missed winning by a mere 58 votes.

Senadin is located in the Miri parliamentary constituency, he added, and PKR’s Miri MP Teo Yu Keng has already committed to ensuring a win for the party there.

The majority of Miri voters are Chinese (57 percent), 26 percent Muslim bumiputera and 17 percent non-Muslim bumiputera.

“I urge all to unite in fighting BN’s cruelty in the upcoming Sarawak election,” Lee stressed.

The Sarawak elections must be called by June, or the state assembly will be dissolved automatically.

In the 2011 state polls, PKR won three out of the 49 state seats it contested, while DAP won 12 out of 15 seats – almost all in urban Chinese-majority areas.

Sarawak DAP and PKR leaders had a public spat earlier over seat allocations, with PKR announcing that it will contest the same seats as it did in 2011.