Cobbold (seated centre) flank by Sylvia (right), Rapelson (left), PBDSB deputy youth chief William Mangor (standing right) and PBDSB ordinary member Hilarion Bisi Jinggot.
KUCHING: Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak Baru (PBDSB) has decided to contest in 10 parliamentary seats in the coming 14th General Election (GE14).
Its president Cobbold John Lusoi said the party had identified its potential candidates, including one woman, to contest in the 10 seats.
“Our woman candidate is Sylvia John Gemok, who is a former State Reform Party (STAR) women chief.
“Our other candidates are Rapelson Richard, our youth chief, and myself, while the rest we will reveal their names after the dissolution of Parliament,” he told a press conference after the launch of PBDSB Bulletin here today.
However, he declined to reveal the parliamentary seats that the party intends to contest in.
Cobbold said the 10 seats that PBDSB would be contesting are expected to be announced after the final discussion with its partner in the United Borneo Alliance (UBA), namely Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR), here on March 31.
The rebranded Sabah-based party headed by Datuk Dr Jeffey Kitingan was formerly named as STAR Sabah.
On January 29, PBDSB and Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for a strategic alliance in Penampang, Sabah.
The main agenda of the alliance is to uphold the Borneo Agenda -“The Revolutionary Change”.
Cobbold said as Jeffrey is barred from entering Sarawak, Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku would be sending its representative for the meeting here.
He said UBA is expected to contest in 20 parliamentary seats in Sarawak – 10 by PBDSB and 10 by Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku.
“Our seats allocation would be finalized during our final discussion on March 31. After that discussion we will announce the seats that PBDSB and Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku intend to contest,” he said.
Cobbold said the UBA manifesto would also be announced on the day, indicating that the gist of UBA’s manifesto would highlight the alliance’s struggle for Borneo rights and resources, the Malaysia Agreement 1963, Petroleum Development Act, goods and services tax (GST) and native customary rights (NCR) land.