PETALING JAYA: The issue of PKR cheating DAP over the allocation of seats in the Sarawak election never arose as alleged by DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, said PKR vice-president Shamsul Iskandar.
He said the clash of six seats between DAP and PKR could have been avoided.
"Even though DAP announced the seats they would be contesting before getting the approval of the Pakatan Harapan presidential council as laid down in the Pakatan Harapan Agreement, PKR was open to discussions up until midnight on Sunday in the hope that three-cornered fights could be avoided," said Shamsul.
He added that they did not receive any feedback from Lim.
"In other words, Lim made the decision to contest all five seats without evaluating PKR's suggestion to negotiate in a fair manner to create a win-win situation," said Shamsul in a statement on Monday.
He added that it was sad that there are now six seats being contested by PKR and DAP, including Batu Kitang.
"The direct effect is that this will not make victory easy and will reduce the chances of victory for PKR's Voon Shiak Ni (in Batu Kitang)," said Shamsul.
Shamsul added that negotiations over the allocation of seats were transparent and fair.
"The negotiation process between PKR and DAP for seats in the Sarawak election was carried out sincerely and in a transparent manner.
"The issue of PKR cheating DAP never arose as alleged by DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng. This is not how PKR works with allied parties," said Shamsul.
Sarawak DAP and PKR are fighting head-on in at least two of six disputed seats, tearing apart the agreement signed by their national leaders to avoid overlapping claims.
One of the seats is in Mulu, where DAP's Paul Raja will be challenged by PKR's Paul Baya after both candidates submitted their nomination papers on Monday.
Another clash between the two parties is in Batu Kitang, where Voon will have to face her opposition counterpart Abdul Aziz Isa of DAP.
Abdul Aziz was originally chosen as DAP's candidate for Stakan, but the eleventh hour move by Sarawak DAP is seen as a retaliation against PKR's refusal to allow it to contest in the remaining overlapping seats.
DAP claims that it had reached an agreement to let PKR contest in Batu Kitang, provided it returned the favour by allowing DAP's candidates to contest in the five seats with overlapping claims - Mulu, Murum, Simanggang, Mambong and Ngemah.
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