Sarawak polls: State leaders had autonomy on seats, says Azmin

(The Star) – The Sarawak PKR and DAP state leaders were given the freedom to select the seats as well as the candidates for the state election.

“We have to respect their autonomy,” said PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali.

Azmin also said it was unfortunate that the Pakatan partners were going battle for the same state seats in several constituencies on spite of lengthy discussions by both the parties top leaders.

“I was in discussion with Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng until 10pm last night,” Azmin told reporters after launching a statewide reading campaign at the Shah Alam library on Monday.

On the written agreement both Azmin and Lim had signed, the PKR leader said it was part and parcel of the negotiations that took place between both parties.

“It was made during the (negotiation) process but a not conclusive agreement as we were allowed to continue to discuss some of the overlapping seats,” said Azmin adding that the discussion also involved the swapping of seats.

According to Azmin the ‘written agreement’ was made on a very small piece of paper.

He added the fact that negotiations were allowed was indicative that the agreement was not conclusive.

Azmin also said that the PKR leadership had given him the mandate to oversee the Sarawak polls and he had authorised state party chief Baru Bian to sign the appointment letters of candidates contesting for the seats.