Bid for straight fight deal

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PKR eyes one-to-one against BN in Batu Sapi, hopes SAPP will withdraw

KOTA KINABALU: Senior leaders of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) from Kuala Lumpur are said to be in contact with SAPP president Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee in a bid to work out a deal for a straight fight against the Barisan Nasional (BN) in the Batu Sapi parliamentary by-election.

Yong, PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang are believed to have an unofficial understanding on a one-to-one fight against the BN.

Yong however said Anwar’s call yesterday for SAPP to withdraw put the party in a spot as they had already made it clear when they announced their intention to contest the Batu Sapi seat.

“I don’t see any change in SAPP’s stand to contest the Batu Sapi seat,” said the former chief minister who took SAPP out of the ruling coalition on Sept 17, 2008 and positioned itself as a “non-aligned” party.

“Anwar’s call for us to withdraw obviously puts us in a spot when we have already announced it,” he said.

“Nonetheless, we understand that some PKR leaders will meeting SAPP on Thursday, but nothing has been finalised as yet,” Yong said.

Asked if SAPP would go into the by-election with or without a deal with PKR, Yong replied, “that sounds arrogant”.

Yong himself is said to be on a shortlist of potential SAPP candidates, the others being secretary-general Datuk Richard Yong and former independent Sandakan MP Chong Hon Ming.

Yesterday, Anwar said Pakatan Rakyat has agreed that PKR should put up a candidate for the Batu Sapi parliamentary constituency.

He said a recent Pakatan Rakyat meeting in Sabah decided that a PKR candidate “should be given the opportunity to fill the vacancy” following the death of Datuk Chong Ket Wah of PBS in a road accident on Oct 9.

“We will announce the name (of the candidate) shortly,” Anwar told reporters at the parliament lobby.

PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang and DAP Advisor Lim Kit Siang were present.

Asked why the seat was given to PKR, Anwar said it was already allocated to the party in 2008.

Nominations have been set for Oct 26 while polling will be held on Nov 4.

Commenting on SAPP’s statement that it would contest the seat, Anwar said he hoped the party would change its mind to allow for a straight fight between PKR and BN.

Anwar also said Dr Hiew King Cheu, DAP MP for Kota Kinabalu, would lead Pakatan Rakyat’s campaign in the by-election.

However, Sabah PKR is apparently facing serious wrangling for the seat with its newly elected Batu Sapi chief Hasnar Ebrahim fuming over the possibility of fellow leaders from outside the area being considered as the opposition party’s candidate.

He was particularly unhappy with the decision of the party’s state leadership to leave him and other  leaders in Batu Sapi out of a closed door Pakatan Rakyat’s state secretariat meeting last Sunday that apparently decided to let PKR contest the seat for the opposition coalition.

Most of the senior state PKR leaders here are tight-lipped over the growing dissatisfaction among party cadres in Batu Sapi where one of its leaders Datuk Nahalan Damsal has declared support for SAPP instead.

State PKR has proposed five names, including state party chief Ahmad Thamrin Jaini and Hasnar, and they are leaving it to the central leadership to decide.