A Sarawak Spring?

Bridget Welsh

When change rocked the Middle East from Tunisia to Yemen, many were quick to point out that it could not happen in Malaysia. The BN government has a stronger record of governance and, for all of the unevenness of the playing field, holds competitive elections.

Yet, as the Sarawak campaign has unfolded, it is increasingly becoming apparent that change is afoot. The 30-year tenure of Abdul Taib Mahmud – closely paralleling the length of Hosni Mubarak’s own tenure – has inspired an unprecedented response on the ground.

PKR: Cash offered for votes in Kuching

Keruah Usit

Sarawak PKR information chief and candidate for the Batu Lintang seat, lawyer See Chee How, has told Malaysiakini that Kuching voters are being offered between RM100 and RM200 for their votes in the upcoming state polls.

“We are fighting an uphill battle, because we heard that they are buying votes in Stutong, in the market and the nearby area. So it’s not going to be easy.

A plea to Batu Lintang voters

Sim Kwang Yang

Dear friends,

I appeal to all of you to give your support to See Chee How, the PKR candidate in the Batu Lintang constituency, in the Sarawak state election on April 16.

I call on you to do this in order to teach Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud a lesson in democracy. Taib is one of the most powerful people in Malaysia because of his phenomenal wealth and he has plundered the wealth of Sarawak for over 30 years. 

THE SULTAN OF BINTULU HELPS HIMSELF TO THE AIRPORT!

. Sarawak Report

The Old Bintulu Airport now occupies a prime space in the centre of the town.

Businessmen in Bintulu have been eying the opportunity of acquiring the vast area of the Central District occupied by the old airport.

This is public land, of course, and so its disposal comes under the control of the Chief Minster, because (outrageously) he is also the Planning and Resources Minister and Finance Minister and the man who dominates his home district of Bintulu.

Anwar optimistic as PKR unveils list of 48 candidates to take on Taib

Sheela Sri Jaya, Malaysia Chronicle

PKR has announced it will contest 48 of the 71 seats in Sarawak’s legislative assembly. Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim was present at the press conference organised by PKR Sarawak chief Baru Bian who unveiled the much-anticipated list on Monday.

Baru himself will be contesting the Ba’kelalan seat, where speculation is rife that Prime Minister Najib Razak wants his protege Idris Jala to make a challenge for.

BEAT THE CHEATS! – SARAWAK REPORT’S REVOLUTIONARY ELECTION MONITORING SERVICE!

SARAWAK REPORT

The Land Title that wasn’t a Land Title, George Chan cheating villagers around Miri last week!

The stories are starting to pour in as the election gets underway.  Just this Sunday afternoon a key worker for PR, who is based in Kuching, was turfed out of the State when he returned after a short break in West Malaysia.

Money is being handed round the longhouses in grubby notes by senior BN Ministers, along with crates of beer.  Gerrymandering is being spotted on the part of the Election Commission and even the army has been caught brutally threatening villagers to vote BN!

Art of war in the Land of the Hornbill

Sim Kwang Yang 

How is Sun Tzu’s writing relevant to us? A general election is like any war – the contestants in the polls must win the hearts and minds of the voters. Indeed, they can all learn something from Sun Tzu’s immortal work, ‘The Art of War’.

“Know your enemy and you can win a hundred battles,” said Sun Tzu. The Sarawak election is no different from a military battlefield, for the players with the most intimate knowledge of their opponents would enjoy a huge advantage over them.

Putrajaya backs down over Alkitab for Sabah and Sarawak

Debra Chong 

Faced with an unyielding Christian community days ahead of a crucial state poll in Sarawak, the federal government has retracted all conditions previously imposed on the use of Malay bibles there, but appear to have separate rules for believers on the other side of the South China Sea.

The Cabinet, through its Christian minister, Datuk Seri Idris Jala, offered today a new list of suggestions to put an end to the month-long stand-off, in a bid to head off a possible backlash against the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition in Malaysia’s biggest and most Christian state on April 16.

PKR to name candidates on Monday, may spring some surprises

Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

Far from being depressed by Snap’s decision to withdraw from the Pakatan Rakyat, a recharged and raring-to-go PKR will be naming its candidates on Monday and chances are high it will spring a couple of surprises.

“We have identified 45 candidates but have not made the final decision on whether to field them all,” PKR vice president Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

Taking the fight to the lion’s den

Pakatan gov’t experience to help penetrate rural S’wak

Kuek Ser Kuang Keng

Although the ‘political tsunami’ of the 2008 general election is losing steam in the peninsula as shown by the recent by-elections, it will still be Pakatan’s major weapon in fighting the 10th Sarawak state election on April 16.

The formation of five Pakatan Rakyat state governments after the last general election, will be portrayed by the Sarawak opposition as a strong example of how to convey a simple message to the Sarawak electorate, especially the natives in rural areas, that the BN is unable to equal that governance.

S’wak polls: Rude wake-up call for PKR

Joe Fernandez

If Snap is indeed being funded by BN as PKR strenuously claims, this is something that’s best seen to be believed.

The propaganda barrage is intense. The story is that the Sarawak National Party (Snap) is a fifth column within the opposition alliance and or otherwise funded by the ruling Barisan Nasional to split votes and give the latter victory by default.

MACC probing allegations against Taib

Teoh El Sen

The commission’s chief Abu Kassim Mohamed says that MACC probes all complaints without fear or favour.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is investigating all complaints that have been lodged against Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud.

“We investigate all cases, we do this without fear or favour,” MACC Chief Commissioner Abu Kassim Mohamed told FMT today.

Don: 29 Sarawak ‘hot seats’ to watch

Andrew Ong

A keen contest is expected in 29 seats during the Sarawak state elections, according to a prediction by Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) political scientist Faizal Syam Hazis.

Faizal believes that all 15 Chinese-majority seats, seven Iban-majority seats, three Malay-Melanau-majority seats, two Bidayuh-majority seats and two Orang Ulu-majority seats “might swing either way”.

Contrasting takes on S’wak polls by 2 analysts

Terence Netto

Perhaps you could not get two more contrasting forecasts by academics of how state polls scheduled for April 16 would turn out at a forum on ‘Sarawak State Elections 2011’ in Petaling Jaya last night. 

One was mildly optimistic of the prospects for the opposition while the other virtually held that only in the Chinese seats were there signs of a surge for the opposition.

国阵代理人银弹攻势变相贿选，施志豪吁支持民联落实制度改革

（古晋2日讯）人民公正党实旦宾区部主席施志豪抨击一个大马组织以国阵代理人的身份，于砂州选举在即的时刻砸下巨款举办免费晚宴并派送礼品，企图以银弹攻势掳掠民心。施志豪非议如此做法等同变相贿赂选民，他呼吁人民拒绝这样的劣质选举文化。

一个大马组织向来只活跃于补选期间，并且因过去曾在加腊士、丁能及万里望补选举办免费吃喝玩乐活动及派送礼品而臭名昭彰。人民公正党探悉该组织近期活跃于古晋地区，除了每日轮流于该区各地巴刹及小贩中心免费派送礼品，更举办大型晚宴邀请附近居民免费出席。值得一提的是，上述晚宴活动均邀请国阵候选人及领袖出席。

也是人民公正党最高理事的施志豪质疑，一个大马组织自称为无党无派的非政府组织，偏偏却只在选举期间出现，并且与国阵领导互动频密。

砂州选举升温-公正党领袖访峇都林当选区

（古晋2日讯）人民公正党最高理事郑立慷以及实旦宾区部主席施志豪律师联合拜访峇都林当选区，拜访选民做进一步交流，使到即将来临的砂劳越州选举逐渐升温。

郑立慷在拜访选民时呼吁选民在即将来临的州选，全力支持公正党派出的候选人，不仅仅要确保民联再度蝉联峇都林当议席，同时通过高票致胜来表达对砂州首长泰益玛目长期执政以来的不满。

“泰益长达三十年的执政期间，许多原住民的土地遭国阵政府夺走，泰益家族过着奢华生活，相反地，人民却活在水深火热之中。”

Probe Taib, or ‘we take to the streets’

Teoh El Sen

As the clock ticks down for the state polls, a Sarawak citizens initiave issues a stern warning to the MACC, urging it to probe the chief minister.

VIDEO INSIDE

A Sarawak citizens initiative has warned that it will take to the streets if the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) does not probe state chief minister Taib Mahmud.

The ultimatum from the Movement for Change Sarawak (MoCS) leader Francis Siah comes amid preparation for the Sarawak state election on April 16.

Weather forecast: Tsunami in Sarawak to sweep BN away

New Jo-Lyn, C Celestine, Malaysia Chronicle

A political tsunami is expected to rock Sarawak in the impending elections as Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s dirty linen has been washed in public too many times for voters to ignore.

“The rakyat are responding well to us. We are confident we will at least deny BN a two-thirds majority – at least 36 seats. The news of Taib’s squandering, the Bible issue and the Penan rapes will not go down well for him during the elections,” PKR MP for Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin told Malaysia Chronicle.

Clash of Iban slogans between SPDP and Snap

FMT Staff

Aiming to stoke a revival amongst Dayak, Snap’s battlecry is irking rival Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party.

The old Iban war cry ‘Agi Idup Agi Ngelaban’ which literally means “as long as there is life, there is fight” may have been good in the old days but can it hold a candle in this new world?

Well, Barisan Nasional coalition partner Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) thinks not.

‘Handouts for voters is corruption’

Patrick Lee

A day after a minister defends such financial aid, an anti-graft watchdog says giving cash and things like sewing machines is clearly an act of corruption.

Any attempt to entice voters, with cash and goodies, is a form of corruption, said Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) today.

However, its president Paul Low stressed that election promises were considered “borderline” cases.

“There have been a lot of arguments on vote buying, enticing voters with money and sewing machines. We believe that this is corrupt practice.

Sarawak must re-write own story

Maclean Patrick

Sarawak is not a ‘fixed deposit’ for the BN but a thinking state that must chart its own course.

We should not investigate facts by the light of arguments, but arguments by the light of facts. – Myson of ChanaeNever before has a singular event throw up so much dirt and fodder. The coming Sarawak election has produced enough political misadventures to give any right-minded thinkers a headache.

Bible Society collects stamped Alkitab — as museum piece

Debra Chong 

Despite denouncing the federal government for “desecrating” 5,000 Malay bibles with the Home Ministry’s seal, the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) has finally picked up its two-year-old cargo worth RM70,000 from Port Klang.

The importer said the stamped and serialised bibles, which it collected yesterday, cannot be sold and will instead be preserved as museum pieces and a reminder to future generations of Malaysian Christians of what it maintains was a deliberate and unjustified government move to deface their holy book.

25% of PBB candidates are new new faces, says Taib

– Bernama

Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud will be meeting Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to submit the list of names for the Sarawak polls.

About 25% of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) candidates in the April 16 state election will be new faces, Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud said today.

Taib, who is PBB president, said he would be meeting Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak with a list of candidates from all four BN component parties in the state.

NEW OWN-GOAL BY BN ! – FRESH EXPOSE

.  Sarawak Report

“Significant prosperity”, according to the State Secretary – on RM 15 a day?

BN bloggers have been boasting that the State Secretary, Mohamid Morshidi bin Abdul Ghani, got a letter into the UK’s Sunday Times newspaper claiming “the rainforest is not devastated” and that ”logging licences are awarded after due process and are not in the personal gift of the Chief Minister”.

However, we can reveal Ghani’s own family are among the state’s top land-grabbers!  Not only that, they have been charged ridiculously preferential rates for the vast tracts of land, which they have been given (by the Chief Minister)!

TOO OLD AND FORGETFUL? – TAIB FORGETS HIS OWN BUSINESSES!

.  Sarawak Report

Losing his memory and forgetting his businesses?

Taib Mahmud has been forced onto the defensive throughout the first first week of his election campaign, as he has fought to shake off allegations of landgrabs, corruption, nepotism and the siphoning out Sarawak’s wealth into foreign banks, businesses and property companies.

His advisers had insisted that he face up and address these issues to restore his credibility with outraged voters.  A strategy was devised with a series of staged video interviews answering pre-prepared questions by friendly reporters (including one hired by a foreign PR company).  The edited answers were then put onto Taib’s flock of new websites in an attempt to win back ground in the ‘cyber-war’

Taib, Sultan of Spin, goes to cyberwar

Pak Bui

At the risk of adding to the miniscule number of hits on http://www.sarawakreports.org, the copycat website run by Taib’s groupies, I recommend a short visit to the site. It will make you laugh, at a time when nasty, low-class scams like the blue films of an Anwar impersonator are in circulation.

Taib’s own low-class scam, ‘Sarawak Reports’, must be another of those ‘secret weapons’ that George Chan alluded to. It is a tawdry ‘ciplak’ or fake of the original whistleblower website Sarawak Report. http://www.sarawakreport.org Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but there does not appear to be anything sincere about Taib’s cyberspin.

Palm Plantation Patronage – How Taib Pays off Political Pals!

Taib’s power-base

Many have questioned in our comments why Taib’s political colleagues allow his corruption to continue?

Our researches through the land registry are starting to provide the answer.  Most of his political cronies, who occupy the top ministerial jobs, have themselves been major benefactors of the Chief Minister’s largess over state lands.

A united Sarawak Pakatan still possible

Joseph Tawie

Despite an angry rebuke from DAP yesterday following a failed negotiation with deputy PKR president Azmin Ali, lawyer Baru Bian is confident that all will be well.

Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian has denied that negotiations over overlapping seats with DAP had collapsed.

Voicing his “one hundred percent confidence”, he said negotiation between PKR and DAP would be resolved amicably.

‘No chance of unseating Taib’

FMT Staff

Chief Minister Taib Mahmud is urging rural Sarawak to rally behind the BN in the upcoming polls because Pakatan Rakyat is ‘already in disarray’.

KUCHING: Both DAP and Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud seem oddly enough to share a common view that the Pakatan Rakyat coalition has no chance of forming the next Sarawak government.

According to Taib, the opposition was in disarray and squabbling over seats.

RM21 MILLION CASH – NEW LAND GRAB PROFIT FOR TAIB BROTHER!

. Sarawak Report

Poor Ibrahim? He seems wealthy enough!

With just days to go before the election the Mahmud family are still coining in money from land handed to them by the Chief Minister.

On February 18th, the Malaysia Stock Exchange announced a RM 21 million purchase of 80% of a company that was been given a stake in a 5,000 hectare plantation in the Baram region by Taib Mahmud.  Our researches have shown that the lion’s share of that cash payment went to his own brother Ibrahim Mahmud!

Vote to kill corruption

Pak Bui

Taib is not the main election issue. Corruption is the enemy of Sarawakians. Corruption by BN, not Taib alone, has made Sarawakians poor.

Najib and Taib are playing a coy game of hide-and-seek with Sarawak’s voters. After they met to discuss the dissolution of the state assembly, both Najib and Taib dropped a little hint that Taib may step down after the election.

But most urban Sarawakians do not believe their cheap charade. Taib has promised to step down on countless occasions, and has lied every single time.

TAIB STEALS HIS ELECTRICITY

. Sarawak Report

Taib’s residence in Demak Jaya – his sister and son Abu Bekir have houses next door 

At a time when people are struggling to cope with the rising electricity costs, Sarawak Report has established that the Chief Minister thieves electricity to keep down his own bills !

This astonishing information came to us from senior insiders, who are in a good position to know what is happening in Taib’s household.  We have subsequently obtained corroborative evidence from the chief technician in charge of maintenance at his grand residence at Demak Jaya.

Taib defends family business empire in cyberspace

Kuek Ser Kuang Keng

Less than a month to go for the 10th Sarawak state polls, the nation’s longest-serving chief minister, Abdul Taib Mahmud, has launched a cyber campaign to fend off various allegations against him, including his family’s global business empire.

In one of the video interviews uploaded onto the popular video sharing portal Youtube, Taib explained that his daughter Jamilah’s business was initially funded by his gratuity as a federal minister, which his daughter through her business acumen expanded into a global empire.

On Taib’s 30th anniversary, here are 30 reasons why he must go

MoCS 

There is no joy in the air among Sarawakians as Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud celebrates his 30th anniversary as Sarawak’s chief executive today.

“I doubt the people of Sarawak are in the mood to celebrate with their chief minister although Taib has achieved the historic milestone as the country’s longest serving CM,” said Movement For Change, Sarawak leader Francis Paul Siah.

“Taib’s legacy is one of blatant abuse of power. To Sarawakians and Malaysians, he will be remembered as one of the nation’s most corrupt political leaders who perpetuated money politics and the politics of patronage, nepotism and despotism. He is also the grandmaster of the politics of fear and intimidation,” he said.

Behind the numbers game in S’wak: What’s going on in Pakatan

Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle 

The Pakatan Rakyat national leadership will meet on Monday to help finalize seat allocations in Sarawak, where temperatures are rising and wild allegations hurled around as component parties try their best to swing the most “winnable” seats, egged on by arch rival BN which is only too happy to stir the flames higher.

But time is running out and the Pakatan is already a step behind. BN will be announcing their candidates on Saturday. Nomination day is on April 6 and balloting on April 16.

All eyes on PBB new faces

With nomination and polling dates fixed for the Sarawak election, speculation now centres on the candidates, especially new faces.

Of special interest is the possible line-up of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), the backbone of the state BN.

Chief Minister and PBB president Abdul Taib Mahmud has said that about a quarter of the candidates for the 35 seats allocated to the party would be new.

Party sources said that 10 to 12 new faces were likely be fielded, most of them in constituencies which PBB won with a small majority in the last state election.

‘No secret ties with BN’

FMT Staff

SNAP, battling allegations of secretly bedding with BN, said it is not a ‘genuine’ partner in Pakatan Rakyat

Sarawak National Party (Snap) has denied having a “secret” arrangement with the federal-level Barisan Nasional (BN).

Describing the accusation as a “fabrication of the worst order”, Snap secretary-general Stanley Jugol said there was “never” any meeting between Snap leaders and Umno information chief Ahmad Maslan.

Taib denies he benefitted financially from land deals

Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud said today that he never benefitted financially from the Native Estate, which he introduced to develop bumiputera land in the state.

He said there was no basis for the allegations of certain quarters that he was trying to seize land from the people with the concept, which was really to raise the living standard of the owners.

“I introduced Native Estate, but my salary stayed the same. There was no increase because there was no commission,” he said.

Taib mocks opposition over seat tussle

FMT Staff

There is no reason for us, the government, to seize people’s land, adds the CM.

The opposition parties in Sarawak are incapable of working together as is seen in their ongoing fight over seats for the state election, said Chief Minister and state BN chief Abdul Taib Mahmud today.

He said that the tussle for seats between the state opposition parties is an indication that they are incapable of working for the people.

PKR confident seat talks will end well

Stephen Tiong

Sarawak PRK chief Baru Bian is confident the final list of Pakatan Rakyat candidates for the coming state election will be resolved by Tuesday. 

“Yes, I am 100 per cent confident,” he told reporters today when commenting on reports that the DAP-PKR negotiations on overlapping claims for seats to contest had broken down.

“So, you just wait for the leaderships of the two parties to announce the decision by March 29,” he told a press conference.

Pakatan S’wak seat spat: Who’s greedy? PKR or DAP

The current hot news is the ongoing seat negotiations between DAP and PKR and how it has broken down. The story is that DAP wants 18 seats, mainly Chinese-majority and that PKR wants to reduce it to 13 by demanding 5 of their seats.

It will be instructive to look at the situation during the 2006 Sarawak State Elections.

Of the 5 seats in dispute (N9 Padungan, N13 Batu Kawah, N25 Balai Ringin, N63 Piasau and N65 Senadin) 4 were contested by PKR and 1 by SNAP (N25 Balai Ringin).

The Sarawak gambit

Maclean Patrick

The moves that the people in Sarawak make on the political chessboard are crucial as the electoral battle nears.

It took the death of a young Tunisian graduate, Mohamed Bouazizi, a fruit seller; to ignite the call for change in the Middle East. Demonstrations against high unemployment, food inflation, corruption, lack of freedom of speech, lack of political freedom and poor living conditions followed suit which led to the ousting of president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on Jan 14, 2011.

TAIB BLUNDER EMBARRASSES ANOTHER RELATIVE!

. Sarawak  Report

Chief Minister claims 70% of Sarawak’s virgin forest is left untouched!

Taib’s advisors would do well to rein in their boss’s sudden enthusiasm for media interviews.  He is not doing well at all!

At the start of the week, he contradicted his son-in-law, Hisham (Sean) Murray’s denials that he was involved in the family’s international property empire, by admitting he had started it with his own money. Now he has implied that his cousin Hamid Sepawi has been misleading the authorities in his applications for Planted Forest Licences!

Pakatan national leadership meets on Monday to finalize S’wak seats

Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

The Pakatan Rakyat national leadership will meet on Monday to help finalize seat allocations in Sarawak, where temperatures are rising and wild allegations hurled around as component parties try their best to swing the most “winnable” seats, egged on by arch rival BN which is only too happy to stir the flames higher.

But time is running out and the Pakatan is already a step behind. BN will be announcing their candidates on Saturday. Nomination day is on April 6 and balloting on April 16.

So what exactly is going on in the Land of the Hornbills?

Sarawak election: Doomsday for the SUPP?

Kuek Ser Kuang Keng

With the 10th Sarawak state election set for April 16, time is ticking for Supp, the second largest party in the state’s ruling coalition, to fight for its survival in probably the toughest election since its formation in 1959.

In the 2006 state election, the Chinese-dominated party suffered its worst electoral hammering, losing eight of 19 seats it contested.

The casualties included two assistant ministers and a mayor. The May 20 polling day was described as one of the darkest days of its 46-year history by its president George Chan then.

‘Only most popular candidate should take on Jabu’

Joseph Tawie

Independent Layar constituency candidate Tedewin Ngumbang is calling for a one-to-one fight with Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu Numpang

Former Parti Rakyat (PRS) Sarawak deputy information chief, Tedewin Ngumbang, has called for an independent party to assess the popularity of the three opposition candidates who are poised to take on Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu Numpang in his Layar constituency.

Ngumbang, who has declared his candidacy, will be facing PKR’s Stanny Embat and Sarawak Nasional Party’s (SNAP) Joe Unggang.

No ‘land grabbing’ in S’wak

 

Tashny Sukumaran

According to PRS’ Joseph Salang, large tracts of land are being given or leased out as part of development strategies.

Deputy Information, Communication and Culture Minister Joseph Salang has denied that there were cases of land grabbing in Sarawak.

“There are large tracts of land being given or leased out as part of development strategies. It is land that has been alienated for this purpose, not grabbed.

TAIB’S BIG BOOB AS HE LAUNCHES CYBER-WAR ATTEMPT!

. Sarawak Report

 

Venturing onto the ‘new media’ – but Taib falls at the first hurdle!

 

Taib finally waded into the ‘cyber-war’ this week – and ended up branding his son-in-law a liar!

The septuagenarian is notoriously shy of interviews and has avoided TV appearances for years, but he has been under pressure to answer our findings on Sarawak Report and recently the PM Najib Razak publicly warned that if BN wanted to win the election they must first win the cyber-war!

Taib family’s land deal shelved in run-up to election

 

Keruah Usit 

The Sarawak government has withdrawn two lucrative provisional land leases in Lundu, awarded by Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud to Polar Horizon, a company closely linked to his own family.
 

A letter dated March 18 from the state Land and Survey Department to Jamain Mahmud (no relation to Taib), vice-chairman of the local villagers’ action committee stated that “an instruction has been given to the Land and Survey superintendent, Kuching Division, to cancel the provisional lease to Lot 176 and 177 of Block 5, Sampadi Land District and Lot 178 of Block 6, Sampadi Land District, which had been issued to Polar Horizon Sdn Bhd”.

Sarawak seat talks: PKR must avoid presumption

Terence Netto

PKR must tread carefully in seat-sharing negotiations with Snap which enters a decisive phase today when leaders of both parties come to grips on the issue, now that nomination and polling dates for the 10th Sarawak state elections have been fixed by the Election Commission.

It would help if PKR abandons the attitude that Snap are supplicants and not equal partners in talks that Snap insiders, talking on background, say are doomed to failure.