Three Sarawak parties form new Opposition bloc

KUCHING: Three local Opposition parties in Sarawak will avoid going head to head in the coming 15th General Election after agreeing to form a new political coalition.

The Sarawak People’s Aspiration Party (Aspirasi), Parti Sedar Rakyat Sarawak (Sedar) and Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak Baru (PBDS Baru) signed a memorandum of understanding yesterday to set up the proposed Gagasan Rakyat Sarawak (Gagasan).

In a joint statement, Aspirasi president Lina Soo, Sedar president Datuk Othman Abdillah and PBDS Baru president Bobby William said their parties unanimously agreed to form the coalition with the intention of using one party logo for GE15.

“We are three political parties with shared values and principles that envision a better future for all Sarawakians.

“We are open to other local political parties who subscribe to the same principles and values,” the statement said.

With the new coalition, Othman said the local Opposition parties would not end up contesting against each other as they did in the past.

He said Sedar would field candidates in the eight Malay/Melanau-majority seats in GE15.

Soo added that the three parties aimed to avoid multi-cornered fights against the ruling Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) coalition.

“We expect other parties to join us and between us, we want to contest all 31 parliamentary seats in Sarawak.

“For Aspirasi, we will announce our number of seats and candidates in due course,” she said.