PKR Sarawak digesa beri laluan kepada DAP di Batu Lintang

Analysts believe the People's Justice Party (PKR) should give DAP the opportunity to contest the Batu Lintang seat in the upcoming Sarawak PRN election. Chong Chieng Jen, DAP Sarawak chairman, thinks PKR should not be able to challenge incumbent See Chee How, who is currently running under the GPS ticket for the Batu Lintang seat.

Dick Lembang Dugun, from the University of Malaysia Sarawak, stated that PKR has almost no influence at the national level, whereas DAP remains the dominant party in the state's political landscape. "PKR today is not capable of championing the issues and rights of Sarawak's people," he said to FMT. "In my opinion, the right decision is to give DAP the chance to contest in Batu Lintang.

DAP Sarawak is seen as more functional than PKR in the current Sarawak political environment." In the 2021 Sarawak PRN, PKR contested 28 seats but failed to win any of them, losing 22 deposit funds. James Chin, from the University of Tasmania, noted that DAP has an advantage in Batu Lintang due to its greater influence among the Chinese voters, who form over 80% of the total voters in the area.

"Historically, DAP has succeeded in Batu Lintang, and the Chinese voters, comprising more than 80% of the total voters there, indicate a higher likelihood to vote for DAP rather than PKR," he said. Batu Lintang, established in 1991, was formerly a stronghold of the People's Union for Sarawak (SUPP) party, which was eventually overthrown by DAP in 2006, marking the first victory for an opposition party in the region.

See Chee How, who was backed by PKR, managed to retain the seat in 2011 and again in 2016 but was expelled from PKR in 2020 due to his opposition to leadership. In 2021, he successfully retained the seat under the Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) ticket, despite winning only 93 votes, 4,420 more than SUPP candidate Sih Hua Tong and 1,823 more than PKR candidate Cherishe Ng.

The odds were even slimmer if he returned to SUPP. While some speculate that See may be removed by SUPP in the upcoming PRN, Chin and Dugun believe his chances might be even slimmer if he contests as an opposition candidate. Chin said that the long-standing tendency of voters in Batu Lintang to support opposition candidates, based on previous PRN results including the 2021 poll where PSB emerged as the winner despite the opposition split, suggests that supporting SUPP has weakened See's chances of victory.

"If he joins the state government through SUPP, See has actually undermined his chances of winning," he said. Dugun added that a strong opposition following might lead to discontent with See's decision to join SUPP and contest as an opposition candidate. He said DAP needs to focus on crafting the right narrative throughout the campaign to win over Chinese voters while acknowledging See's long tenure as the incumbent.

"DAP needs to put forward a strong and well-known candidate to give the Pakatan Harapan (PH) the best chance of retaking Batu Lintang," he said.