Keadilan disregarding seats proposal by Bersekutu
(Daily Express) – Kota Kinabalu: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) is adamant in contesting 40 State and 20 parliamentary seats in the coming election despite fellow opposition Parti Barisan Rakyat Sabah (Bersekutu) saying they (PKR) should focus on just the parliamentary seats.
Its State liaison chief Haji Ansari Abdullah said the people had, as early 2004, accepted the party as one of the players in Sabah's politics.
"They are (Bersekutu) are entitled to their opinion (but) we are confident in contesting in 40 state seats and 20 parliamentary seats (in Sabah)," he said in a Press conference in Tanjung Aru, here, Wednesday.
He said when Keadilan contested in the State election in 2004, they fared better than Bersekutu or that of other opposition parties.
Citing an example, he said the independent candidate who contested in Bangi and is now Keadilan Bangi chief, lost merely by 300 votes to the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate, Datu Amirkahar Tun Mustapha.
Ansari claimed that Sabah Keadilan's strength is now more than double compared to three years ago. Nevertheless, he asserted that Bersekutu still remains an ally of Sabah Keadilan.
"We have talked with them and we will continue to talk with them, they are our friends and whatever differences we have, we will discuss it behind closed doors," he said.
Bersekutu President Berman Angkap had on Sunday suggested that only Sabah-based opposition parties should contest against the BN in the next general elections. He said Peninsula-based opposition parties should focus on contesting in the parliamentary seats in the state.
He said the party that forms the next Government should be Sabah-based.
"There is no point in asking Umno to return to West Malaysia but, at the same time, allow a Peninsula-based opposition party (Keadilan) to contest in all the State seats," he said. He said that if the opposition were on their own like in 2004, they could be easily defeated by the BN.
Ansari, meanwhile, said he would still be contesting the Tuaran parliamentary constituency in the next election. The party is prepared for the election since they had expected it to be conducted this year.
He said that if the election is held after April 15, it would be even better because by then Keadilan Advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim disqualification from taking part in election would have lapsed.
But in any situation, he said Sabah Keadilan would be even more ready and prepared if the election is held next year.
On other developments, Keadilan Secretary General Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim attended several ceramah (talks) conducted in Tuaran, Papar, Sipitang and Beaufort since he arrived on Dec 24.
He also visited Vice-President Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) on Christmas Day. He said that he was taken aback with the poor development in some of the places he visited, where some do not even have electricity supply.
Also present was Sabah Keadilan information chief Dr Edwin Jack Bosi.
