(From left) Soo at the press conference with Aspirasi secretary-general Simon Tiong and ordinary member John Ting.
SIBU: The Sarawak People’s Aspiration Party (Aspirasi) is looking to contest in at least six seats in the central region during the next state election.
Aspirasi president Lina Soo said the constituencies are Nangka, Pelawan, Bukit Assek, and Dudong in Sibu Division, as well as Repok and Meradong in Sarikei Division.
“We have also identified a few potential candidates and will only announce their names when the time comes,” she told a press conference yesterday.
Soo said they could also contest in Bawang Assan, which is currently held by Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) president Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh.
“It’s still too early to decide on that seat and we will come to it when we cross the bridge,” she said.
As a Sarawak-based party, Soo said Aspirasi’s first priority is to get rid of Peninsular Malaysia-based parties.
“Any coalition that deals with Malayan parties should be thrown out from Sarawak. Show them that we are Sarawakians and we care about Sarawak’s developments.
“We have lost 57 years with them already and how many more years do we still want to waste with these Malayan-based parties,” she said.
Soo said Aspirasi, which has formed a political alliance known as Gasak with locally based political groups Sarawak Workers Party (SWP), Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak Baru (PBDSB), Sarawak for Sarawakians (S4S), and Sarawak Independence Alliance (SIA), seeks to be a credible third force in the coming election.
“People are saying we are a mosquito party and, hopefully, we can be malaria mosquitoes,” she said.
On another matter, Soo said the party is open to discussions with other locally based parties such as Parti Bumi Kenyalang and PSB to form an opposition pact.
“We are always open to discussions to work with any locally based parties with the same ideology as us.
“Our intention is to bring together our force so that together we can topple big parties like Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) and Pakatan Harapan (PH),” she said.
Soo claimed feedback from many voters showed they were fed up with politics.
“If you are fed up with GPS or PH, why not try us? Our presence is to give you a different choice and we also aim to serve you differently,” she added.