SIBU, Oct 2 — Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB), Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) and Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) have officially formalised their cooperation for the 15th general election (GE15) with the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) today.

PSB president Datuk Sri Wong Soon Koh, said the ‘historic’ agreement means there will be no overlapping of seats between the three state-based opposition parties in the coming polls.

"This is a historic day because we local parties can come together; we have learnt from the mistakes in the state election held last December.

"Take Sibu as an example. If PBK and PSB had worked together in the last state election, we would have won all the seats in Sibu, for example in Pelawan and Bukit Assek.

"PBDS, PSB, and PBK now together join efforts to pool our resources together so that we can face GPS (Gabungan Parti Sarawak) and parties from Peninsular Malaysia in the next election,” he told a joint press conference here with PBDS president Bobby William and PBK president Voon Lee Shan.

Wong, who is Bawang Assan assemblyman, said the MoU signing is an effort to show the people of Sarawak that only local parties can truly represent their voice in Parliament.

"You cannot rely on GPS or PH (Pakatan Harapan) because they have relations with parties from Peninsular Malaysia,” he added.

He also hoped that the cooperation between the three parties would continue until the next state election.

Voon, who also spoke, said the MoU was to ensure there would be no clash between PBK, PBDS and PSB in GE15.

"So I think what we have done here, we will be able to lay a very strong foundation to challenge GPS.

"The people want a change in our government because the GPS government is the same as BN (Barisan Nasional) — it’s still the same as 59 years ago. Therefore, many people feel that we need a change,” he said.

He believes the cooperation between the three parties will create a ‘strong force’ in the coming GE15, adding they will look to contest all 31 parliamentary seats in Sarawak.

Meanwhile, Bobby said the MoU does not mean a creation of a new political alliance.

"The aim is solely to ensure no overlapping of seats with each other in GE15. PBDS will use our own logo. As for PSB and PBK, we leave the decision to them.”

He affirmed that PBDS will look to contest four seats in GE15, namely Julau, Kapit, Baram and Sibuti, but did not rule out the possibility of the party fielding candidates in more seats as discussions are ongoing with PSB and PBK. — Borneo Post