S'WAK POLLS PKR deputy president Azmin Ali was alleged to have authorised Sarawak state chief Baru Bian to issue appointment letters to the candidates of the five contentious seats. This is according to a party source.

This was against the decision of party presidential council, which only authorised 35 candidates to stand in the May 7 state election.

This may see three-cornered fights in five state seats - Mambong, Simanggang, Ngemah, Murum and Mulu - where DAP will field candidates.

"Azmin gave the impression to the state PKR that he could push it at the central level to allow three-cornered fights with DAP in Sarawak," said the source.

He then claimed both Azmin and party vice-president Tian Chua instigated Sarawak PKR to take a hardline stand with the excuse that this would force the party and DAP to re-open negotiations.

But it was Azmin who sealed the final deal with DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng on April 7, said the source on condition of anonymity.

"And he signed it," said the source, providing Malaysiakini a document that allegedly carried Azmin's signature.

According to the document, Azmin had "agreed in principle" to have eight seats, including the contentious seats, given to DAP.

They are Senadin, Mulu, Tasik Biru, Simanggang, Mambong, Bukit Semuja, Ngemah and Murum.

Five seats - Batu Kitang, Marudi, Machan, Layar, Belaga - were given to PKR.

The source claimed that PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail was never involved in the seat negotiations as alleged.

"Sarawak PKR was misled into believing that DAP tricked the party and Wan Azizah would yield under pressure," he asserted.

"Well, the ones leading the negotiation were Azmin, party vice-president Tian Chua and Baru himself," he said.

'Overlapping claims settled'

On April 11, Pakatan Harapan, chaired by opposition leader Wan Azizah, announced the three allies had settled the overlapping claims in all the seats.

However, this did not resonate well with Sarawak PKR, which claimed that it vetoed that decision and maintained its decision to contest 40 seats.

DAP issued appointment letters to 30 candidates on April 21, four days before the state nomination, while PKR had only announced it would contest in 35 seats.

However Sarawak PKR has claimed it had yet to decide whether it would stand in five seats.

Both PKR and DAP had engaged in several rounds of negotiations to arrive at one-to-one fights with Sarawak BN candidates.

To the surprise of DAP, Azmin claimed on April 22 that the party was still negotiating with DAP on the overlapping claims in five seats.

"We hope we will resolve this before nomination day.

“I really hope that we can conclude the negotiations as soon as possible,” Azmin had said.

The source, however said the party president, who signed the appointment letter for 35 candidates, had turned down the request for three-cornered fights.

"The only one person authorised by the party to sign the appointment letters was Wan Azizah," said the PKR leader.

"She had dealt with the recent developments nicely, she had put her feet down and made it clear that she would honour what has been agreed," he said.

"Thus, even if Baru Bian wanted to issue the appointment letter to five candidates, it is not a valid one," he said.

"The candidates using his signed appointment letter may be disqualified on the spot. They will not stand on PKR's ticket," he said.

Malaysiakini is attempting to contact Azmin, Wan Azizah, party secretary-general Rafizi Ramli and Baru Bian for response.

When contacted, Chua said that he was only involved in the early stage of negotiations between PKR and DAP.

"This, you have to ask Azmin, I do not have the authority to comment (about him)," said the Batu parliamentarian.

State PKR vice-chief See Chee How said they would discuss seats negotiation today and had no further comment.

Sarawak DAP chief Chong Chieng Jen will have an emergency press conference at 2pm today in Kuching.

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