Former S'wak party concedes 'defeat' in Nenggiri before contest starts

NENGGIRI BY-ELECTION | A former Sarawak-based party today halted its planned electoral debut in the peninsula despite party president Othman Abdillah’s presence at the nomination centre.

Othman’s presence from as early as 8am raised questions over Parti Sedar Rakyat’s (Sedar) potential candidate against BN and Perikatan Nasional.

He, however, said Sedar conceded defeat after seeing the two coalitions’ strengths and did not proceed to file the party’s nomination.

“We decided to withdraw after looking at the strength of PN and BN’s supporters.

“We realise that even if we contest, the chance of winning is slim,” Othman told reporters at the Perdana Complex, Gua Musang District Council today.

Nominations for the Nenggiri by-election closed at 10am and the seat, under Gua Musang parliamentary seat, will see a straight fight between BN’s Mohd Azmawi Fikri Abdul Ghani and PN’s Mohd Rizwadi Ismail.

Sedar previously indicated the party’s intention to field a candidate in Nenggiri in the event of a straight fight.

“Even though we are not contesting this time, we will still enter the next election,” added Othman who led Sedar since the party was formed in 2018 as Parti Sedar Rakyat Sarawak.

In the 2021 Sarawak state election, the party fielded five candidates, all of whom lost their deposits.

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