DAP-PKR seat negotiation process

With reference to the press statement made by Penang PKR Chairman Datuk Mansor Othman yesterday with regards to the seat negotiations, we wish here to set the record straight.

1. Mansor said that PKR deputy president Azmin Ali kept engaging DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng on the disputed five seats – Mulu, Mambong, Ngemah, Murum and Simanggang.

That is untrue. While DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng was informed via third party sources repeatedly over a two week period that Azmin Ali intends to call him to renegotiate the seat allocation agreement, Lim never received any calls from Azmin during the period.

Lim only received a call from Azmin on the Sunday night before nomination was to be carried out the next morning.

2. Mansor claimed that the Azmin proposed to resolve the impasse with three seats under PKR and two seats under DAP to avoid three-cornered duels.

“But Lim refused to consider any amicable resolution to avoid a three-cornered fight,” he said.

Mansor failed to recognise that the amicable solution where both parties compromised had already been achieved on 7th April and endorsed by the Pakatan Harapan Presidential Council on the 11th April.

Any one-sided attempts to renegotiate what PKR compromised without taking into consideration what the DAP has compromised earlier can never be acceptable to any party.

That is like the DAP having given away a nearly-safe seat of Batu Kitang, and then reneged on our agreement and demanded the seat to be given back without returning any to PKR.

In addition, what is the point of both parties spending RM108,000 on the Merdeka Centre surveys if the parties do not abide by the outcome?

3. It is also necessary to set the record straight that Azmin only asked to take an additional 3 seats from us – Mulu, Murum and Mambong. Hence we were shocked when PKR fielded candidates in 5 seats including Simanggang and Ngemah.

Azmin would certainly know that by fielding candidates in these seats, they have reduced Pakatan’s chances of winning them to practically zero.

4. Mansor said “both Azmin and Nurul were opposed to signing the note.”

Mansor made it sound as if the top PKR leaders had signed our seat settlement agreement under duress from Lim, which is at best laughable.

That would certainly be a sight to see.

5. Mansor said on April 11, before the Pakatan Harapan Presidential Council meeting, “PKR and DAP failed to reach a consensus on the seats, but agreed to resolve this in the next round of negotiations and work towards one-to-one contests with BN. Hence, in the presidential council it was announced that PKR and DAP had reached consensus on one-to-one contests.”

Mansor must have been misled by whoever who’s feeding him with the information. I was present throughout and Mansor’s account was definitely off the mark.

Nurul Izzah who was part of the PKR negotiation team made the happy announcement to the meeting that all seat negotiations between DAP and PKR have been amicably resolved. Azmin was in the meeting and he did not voice a word of objection.

The meeting decided that it was best to leave it to our respective Sarawak chapters to announce the actual seats which have been agreed. Hence PKR President announced that DAP and PKR have arrived at a seat allocation agreement which will permit a one-to-one fight with Barisan Nasional.

6. The multi-cornered fights in 6 seats in the Sarawak elections is certainly regrettable. However the milk has been spilled and all parties should move forward with the campaign against BN and not be bogged down by the internal dispute on these 6 seats. We have 74 other seats which we are fighting BN.

We have 10 full days of campaigning to go and it will be best to focus our guns on BN.