PADAWAN: Parti Aspirasi Rakyat Sarawak (Aspirasi) is determined to win two Bidayuh majority seats in the 15th General Election (GE15), namely Puncak Borneo and Serian.
Its president Lina Soo said so far the state opposition party is confirmed to contest the Puncak Borneo seat for which she announced George Young Si Record JR as candidate here on Sunday.
“Actually, we have already announced that we will contest in three seats including the Bandar Kuching seat, but the other two candidates will be announced later and at the same time we are still negotiating with the other local opposition parties and also Pakatan Harapan regarding the distribution of seats,” she told New Sarawak Tribune.
She added that her party is still identifying suitable candidates to contest the Serian seat.
The Puncak Borneo seat is currently held by Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Datuk Willie Mongin while the incumbents for Serian and Bandar Kuching are Datuk Seri Richard Riot and Dr Kelvin Yii respectively.
“Parti Aspirasi wants to work with other opposition parties including PH because we hear the voice of the people who want a united and strong opposition coalition to challenge GPS (Gabungan Parti Sarawak) in the next general election,” Lina said.
She added opposition parties should also avoid clashing with each other in order to avoid providing GPS an advantage,” said Soo.
She welcomed the statement by PH Sarawak chairman Chong Cheng Jen, who two days ago said his party DAP was willing to hold talks with local opposition parties consisting of Aspirasi, Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK), Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak Baharu (PBDSB) and Parti Sedar on seat allocations.
“We will hold discussions with Chong soon,” she said, adding that opposition parties need to unite and work together to stop GPS from winning all 31 seats.
Meanwhile, George in his speech called on the voters in Puncak Borneo to give strong support to him and the party in the upcoming GE.
He said that if elected as a member of parliament it would make it easier for him to continue the efforts he has started with several non-governmental organisations (NGOs) including PPDK Hidup Mesra Teng Bukap in the Puncak Borneo Parliamentary constituency.
George believed that his exposure and involvement in charity work with several NGOs, plus his relatives would help him attract support from voters in the GE15.
“Starting from today, my team and I will start moving in the constituency to introduce the party and myself as a candidate to the people and voters,” he said.
A graduate of the University of London, George, 55, contested last year’s state election for the Stakan state seat but lost to a GPS candidate.
