KUCHING, Aug 22 — The planned Progressive Democratic Party (PDP)-Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) merger brings with it several issues, including whether it would fall foul of the anti-party hopping law, said a political analyst.

Universiti Putra Malaysia’s Prof Datuk Jayum Jawan said with the elected representatives from PDP and PSB winning on their respective party ticket, the inevitable question arising from the merger would be whether or not they would have to vacate their seats.

"All were elected either as PDP or PSB lawmakers. Will becoming members of a new entity infringe upon the anti-hopping law that will result in the automatic loss of their seats?

"Clearly, the new entity is neither PDP nor PSB. But this will only be answered when the line is crossed,” he told The Borneo Post when contacted yesterday.

Jayum said another issue is that entry into Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), of which PDP is a component party but not PSB, is by consensus of the other component parties.

"How would a party that would be most affected by this merger react? As a member of GPS, PDP would need to consider the reaction and feelings of the other component parties, especially Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) which will be the one most affected by the merger,” he said.

"Thus, the PDP-PSB merger is not a straightforward case.”

PDP currently holds five seats in the 82-seat Sarawak Legislative Assembly, while PSB has three.

GPS components Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu has the lion’s share of seats at 47, followed by SUPP 13, and Parti Rakyat Sarawak, 11.

On July 13 in Kuala Lumpur, PDP and PSB inked a Memorandum of Understanding for the purpose of collaboration.

This was followed by PDP president Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing announcing at the PDP-PSB Unity Dinner in Sibu last Saturday that his party and PSB aim to finalise their merger this December.

Adding on, Jayum said a PDP-PSB merger would benefit both parties as it pools together their resources to become a stronger entity.

For some PSB leaders, he said they would have the opportunity to once again be part of the ruling coalition, having used to be part of the government fold.

"They had tasted how nice it was to be in the government, holding positions etc, and now they have discovered that the pasture is less green on the other side,” he said. — Borneo Post Online