18-seat target for Sabah, Sarawak ‘achievable’

Seat negotiations among Pakatan Rakyat in Sabah are in the final stages, says PKR chief Ahmad Thamrin Jaini.

KOTA KINABALU: Pakatan Rakyat’s aspiration of capturing 18 parliamentary seats in Sabah and Sarawak is “realistic and achievable”, according to Sabah PKR chief Ahmad Thamrin Jaini.

“The present political scenario and sentiment in Sabah are very much different from 2008.

“With Anwar Ibrahim’s acquittal, PKR is now solid and more focused than ever on further strengthening its election machinery. We are now even more ready for the coming general election,” he said.

Ahmad Thamrin was responding to DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng’s target of capturing 18 seats for Pakatan in Sabah and Sarawak.

Lim reportedly said that Pakatan was within striking distance of capturing Putrajaya and that the 18- seat target will bring the opposition coalition closer to its objective.

“Sabah has 25 parliamentary seats while Sarawak 31. Lim’s 18-seat target is realistic and achievable. It is a conservative number and working as a team, Pakatan will be able to achieve this,” said Thamrin.

In the 2008 general election, Pakatan was short of 30 seats to end Barisan Nasional’s (BN) dominance in Parliament.

As of now, DAP has one seat in Sabah – Kota Kinabalu – and and two in Sarawak – Bandar Kuching and Sibu.

Pakatan currently has 80 seats in Parliament against BN’s 142.

The Jeffrey factor

Ahmad Thamrin also said that seat negotiations among Pakatan partners were in the final stages, but he declined to reveal the breakdown.

However, he added that PKR will be fielding candidates in a substantial number of seats .

Meanwhile, Sabah DAP wants small local opposition parties to stay away from contesting in the parliamentary seats in the coming election.

In apparent allusion to the Jeffrey Kitingan-led STAR party, Kota Kinabalu MP Dr Hiew King Cheu said the opposition will have a better chance of winning by allowing Pakatan to engage in a straight fight against the BN.

“If the people want to see change, they have to vote for big national parties that have the power at the federal level; so small parties should stay away from contesting the parliamentary seats.

“This is not for Pakatan but for the people. Pakatan is working hand in hand to achieve the goal. We cannot do it alone, we must work together,” he said, adding that there were strong indications of changing sentiments among the voters in the two states.

STAR is aiming to form a Borneo Alliance with local Sabah-based parties and any others interested in Jeffrey’s Borneo agenda, which is demanding the reinstatement of the terms of the 20- and 18-point Malaysia Agreements signed by Sabah and Sarawak in 1963.

Jeffrey has already indicated that STAR will not take a backseat in state politics and has expressed confidence in being able to form a new state government.