SARAWAK FOCUS: Will putting up direct BN candidates in the 27 disputed seats be the answer to resolve the seat tussle between Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) and Parti Tenaga Rakyat Sarawak (Teras) and between Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) and United People’s Party (UPP)?
This has been the suggestion put forward by advisers of Chief Minister and State BN chairman Adenan Satem.
On record, SPDP refuses to allow any of its eight seats to be contested by Teras. Similarly, SUPP will not give away any of its 19 seats to UPP.
So far Adenan has yet to come up with a solution that will satisfy everybody. If he has, he had not mentioned it publicly.
When the State BN parties meet in the next one week or two to discuss seat allocation, it would be interesting to see which party will get what.
Of great interest is of course whether the eight seats that have been allocated to SPDP will be divided with its arch enemy, Teras. Or whether SUPP'S 19 seats will be divided with its bitter rival, UPP.
There are also the 11 newly created seats that need to be discussed. PBB is certain to get the Muslim majority seats of Gedong, Kabong, Tellian and perhaps two Bidayuh seats of Simuja and Serumbu.
To resolve the squabbles over seats, it is possible that Adenan may not pick candidates from SPDP and Teras to contest in the eight seats and candidates from SUPP and UPP to contest in the 19 seats.
This is to avoid unhappiness, ill-feelings and sabotage from the party whose candidates are not nominated to contest.
Perhaps the ideal solution, as suggested by Unimas lecturer Dr Jeniri Amir and a few others, is for Adenan to put up direct BN candidates in the 27 disputed seats.
It is certain that SPDP and SUPP will not agree to it as the “direct BN candidate solution” may bring about complications and create more problems that will worsen the situation and destabilise the BN itself.
SPDP president Tiong King Sing has already warned of serious consequences if his party’s choice of candidates is not respected.
He said BN leaders must respect the rights of BN component parties to decide who they wanted to be their electoral candidates.
“The mutual respect in the coalition is what made BN strong today. Our party members also hold on to this spirit.
“If the BN spirit is not upheld, I will fight until the last drop of my blood,” Tiong had declared.
BN leaders should not treat Tiong’s warning lightly, because he is no political lightweight. The Bintulu MP also has deep pockets and can count on many in Umno for assistance.
In the “direct BN candidate” solution, the questions that are uppermost in the minds of SPDP and SUPP leaders are: Who will Adenan choose? Is he going to choose those having close ties with PBB? Where will the direct BN candidates go upon winning? Can they remain as direct BN assemblymen when BN itself is not a political party per se?
Usually the BN leadership gives them six months to choose which party they prefer to join. Certainly for the direct BN assemblymen of Dayak origin, they cannot join either SPDP or Teras otherwise there will be chaos.
If they join SPDP, then Teras will not be happy. And likewise, if they join Teras, there will be “open war” as hinted by Tiong.
The only option open to them is PBB and Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS). Precedents have been created in the past when BN direct candidates like James Dawos and Billy Abit Joo chose PBB and PBDS respectively. They were given six months to choose which party they should join.
For SUPP and UPP, it does not matter much especially in the Chinese-majority seats. Why, because they could lose the Chinese seats to the Opposition. Their main concern is the four Dayak seats namely Mambong (formerly known as Bengoh), Opar, Engkilili and Sri Aman.
The elected reps can join either PBB or PRS.
Assuming this will be the political scenario after the election, SPDP and SUPP as members of BN will stand to lose more, if not all of their seats. Never mind about UPP and Teras as they are outside BN.
Benefiting from this will be PBB and to a lesser extent, PRS.
Based on the concerns expressed by SPDP and SUPP, Adenan may have to think twice before putting up direct BN candidates in the disputed seats.
Perhaps, the “free-for-all” contests for the four parties may still be the best solution, and PBB will play the role of a referee.
Let the best party win.-The Ant Daily
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