Pakatan Harapan has agreed to allow the leaders of the three opposition parties in Sarawak to handle the seat allocation negotiations themselves in the coming state election, Harapan chief secretary Saifuddin Abdullah said today.

"The leaders of the three parties in Sarawak will discuss among themselves [...] they know the situation better," he said.

Saifuddin, who was appointed by PKR to resolve the seat negotiations wrangle in Sarawak, however did not elaborate more except to say the discussions currently only involved the three allies DAP, PKR and Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah).

Other interested parties may also take part in the negotiations in the future, he added.

Saifuddin was asked to comment on the current status of the seat negotiations and if the coalition would include PAS in the talks.

Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian ( photo ) confirmed that the party's national leadership had given its mandate to the state leadership to handle the seat negotiations for the Sarawak election.

"We were given the mandate to finalise (the seat negotiations) unless there is a need to refer to Kuala Lumpur," he told Malaysiakini .

He added that the opposition wished to finalise the seat negotiations by mid-February, he added.

He also revealed that PKR had discussed the Sarawak seat negotiations with PAS even before the formation of Pakatan Harapan.

With the formation of the coalition, he admitted there might be overlapping seat contests involving both PAS and Amanah.

Baru, however, remained optimistic that the issue could be resolved as there were plenty of seats in Sarawak.

Pakatan Harapan also adopted an open attitude towards cooperation with other opposition parties - PAS and the Sarawak Workers Party - in the coming state election, he said.

At the press conference today, PKR announced that it would give 314 units of solar equipment to villages under the Ba'Kalalan state seat, which Baru won by 475 majority votes in the last election.

"A total of 200 units have been given out, while another 114 units will be installed next week," said Adam Fistival Wilfred, the coordinator of 'My ChangeMakers' campaign.

A total of 114 families will benefit from this campaign which is aimed at providing electricity to villages in Sabah and Sarawak.

Saifuddin, who was also present, admitted that the initiative was arranged partly so that the party would retain the Ba'Kalalan seat, one of three seats it won in the 2011 state election.

Adam, however, denied that this is an initiative to bribe the voters as the party really wanted to help the underprivileged.