Baru (fourth from left) with his wife, Yu Ching Sieu (third from left), See (second from right), Voon (second from left) and others in a photo-call at Baru’s house on Christmas Day.
Speculation is rife that DAP may give Stampin to PKR in exchange for Miri
KUCHING: State PKR and DAP will meet in the middle of next month to discuss the possibility of swapping seats for the 14th general election (GE14).
Without naming the seats, state PKR chairman Baru Bian admitted he had heard rumours of proposals to swap seats.
“I met (state DAP chairman) Chong Chieng Jen at my open house yesterday (Sunday), and we agreed to meet sometime in the middle of January. We will probably discuss this possibility,” he said when contacted yesterday.
Baru, who is also Ba Kelalan assemblyman, was asked to comment on a Chinese daily’s report that PKR and DAP might swap Miri and Stampin parliamentary seats.
The term of the current Parliament lapses on June 24, 2018, and the polls must be called within two months, but the prime minister has the prerogative to dissolve Parliament earlier.
“Not only on Miri seat, but on other seats, too,” said Baru.
“As indicated openly by both parties before this, we agreed to begin with the status quo as per the 13th general election (GE13). Therefore, I do not expect any problem this time.”
Based on past practices, the swapping of seats between DAP and PKR has always been based on the formula that a winning seat be swapped with another winning seat.
Hence, if the DAP is eyeing Miri, which is an urban constituency, the party would have to trade the following urban seats it won during GE13: Bandar Kuching, Stampin, Sibu and Lanang.
Based on observations, Chong is unlikely to concede Sibu and Lanang. Besides, PKR does not seem to have strong candidates in the central region.
This leaves Bandar Kuching and Stampin as the only options.
But with the slim chance of Chong giving up his Bandar Kuching constituency, it is most likely that the DAP will swap Stampin for Miri.
Furthermore, political observers said PKR had more influence than the DAP in Stampin, based on the strong track record and influence of PKR Stampin branch leaders like See Chee How, Voon Shiak Ni and Jeffery Mok.
Meanwhile, when asked by reporters during his Christmas open house on Sunday about rumours that the DAP was keen to contest in Miri, Baru also answered that his party was prepared to discuss seat-swapping deals with its partner in Pakatan Harapan.
“There is nothing wrong about us exchanging seats during the next GE14 with Sarawak DAP. We are always open for negotiation with them,” he had said.
Baru also commented that the state PKR was open to discuss the distribution of seats with other Pakatan Harapan partners.
Miri was won by PKR’s Dr Michael Teo in GE13, while DAP’s Julian Tan won Stampin. Dr Teo won with a 1,992-vote majority, while Tan won with a majority of 18,670 votes.
Sarawak PKR contested in 15 seats in GE13 and won only one seat. The DAP contested in 10 seats and won five, the other is Sarikei.
Of late, there have been calls from the DAP grassroots in Miri for PKR to return Miri to DAP. Word from the grapevine is that the DAP wants to field former Piasau assemblyman and state DAP secretary Alan Ling in Miri.
On when GE14 would be called, Baru opined it was not likely to be held soon, given issues facing the people’s support for the BN.
“Maybe he (Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak) will experiment in Sabah by holding a state election in situ before GE14 to gauge support for BN,” he said.