Talks on PH-PSB cooperation for Sarawak polls on hold

Discussions on cooperation between Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) to face the 12th Sarawak state election have been put on hold following overlapping seat requests.

Sarawak PKR acting chairman Abang Zulkifli Abang Engkeh said for now, PH component parties, namely PKR, DAP and Amanah, will not enter into an agreement to cooperate with other opposition parties in the state.

“So far, we have not reached a consensus (with PSB). However, we do not know what will happen in the future as we still have two months before the state election (must be held),” he told Bernama when contacted today.

Prior to this, PSB presidential council member Baru Bian had reached out to DAP for cooperation in the state election.

This was after Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen was reported to have described PSB as a “suspicious” party due to “similarities” with GPS.

In the meantime, Abang Zulkifli confirmed that Sarawak PKR will field candidates in 49 out of the 82 seats in the state election.

“The (negotiations on) seat allocations between PKR, DAP and Amanah are running smoothly. The remaining 33 seats will be filled by the two parties,” he said.