See Chee How
KUCHING: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) believes it can give Barisan Nasional (BN) a ‘worthy challenge’ in 36 constituencies this coming state election.
Its state vice-chairman See Chee How, without naming the constituencies, said the optimism was based on the performance by its potential candidates who had been doing preparation work on the ground for almost two years.
“We started by preparing our potential candidates for 55 constituencies and based on their performance and compliance to the key performance indicator (KPI) and check-list that we introduced, we believe we can give a strong challenge to BN in 36 constituencies,” the Batu Lintang assemblyman told The Borneo Post and See Hua Daily News yesterday.
See, who is also state PKR election director, said the party’s preparation for the coming state election was totally different from that of the last state election.
“In previous elections, our biggest problem was inadequate preparation. During election, we found that many of our weaknesses could be overcome if preparations were done earlier and more methodically.”
In order not to repeat the mistakes, the state PKR election committee started preparing for the coming election at the end of 2013 and put in place a mechanism to monitor the preparatory works of our potential candidates through the party and independent processes.
“We have the assistance of NGO members and academicians to assist us in devising and improving the KPI to measure the preparatory work of our potential candidates and the party machinery. The KPI was and is periodically monitored and evaluated by the state and national election committees, field trainers and the ‘YB Angkat’ of the respective constituency.
“The KPI score ranges from zero to 160 points that will determine the level of preparation works done by our potential candidates for every constituency.”
See said the KPI system was also adopted by the party at the national level in their preparation for the coming general election.
“Initially, we anticipated the state election would be held in September this year and we told our potential candidates that this KPI must be completed before August. They should at least score three quarters or more than half of the 160 points. If not, it shows that their preparation is done poorly.”
See said the party believed in early preparation and could not accept last minute candidate in any election, as studies showed that 80 per cent of voters had actually made up their minds who to vote for before the state assembly was dissolved.
As for the check-list, he said a potential candidate could be considered fully prepared for the state election if he/she had done everything on the list.
“Now everyone’s focus is on the check list. After September, we did our evaluation and based on the KPI score for every potential candidate in every constituency, we could then come out with a conclusion on the probability of winning the seats.”
See said although the party wished to announce the candidates earlier, there were certain constituencies the party couldn’t announce yet, as the party was earnestly awaiting discussions with Pakatan Harapan partners DAP and Amanah to avoid three-cornered fights.
“State PKR chairman Baru Bian had written a letter to DAP and Amanah, asking for an available date to discuss the seats. I’m not sure whether he has received their replies, but we certainly hope to hold our first meeting soon.”
In terms of constituency allocation, See said there was an agreement among Pakatan Rakyat partners previously that the incumbent party would be contesting in the seats they won in the last election.
As for constituencies that are not won or new constituencies, the candidates’ winnability will be the determining factor.
He is hopeful that all the Pakatan Harapan partners will work together and mount a credible challenge against the dominant rule of the BN.