KUCHING: Sarawak PKR has decided to contest 27 instead of 49 seats as announced previously to focus on winnable constituencies in the 12th Sarawak election.
Its state secretary Joshua Jabeng said this was also to avoid overlapping seats with DAP, particularly Kemena, Pujut and Piasau.
He said he will be contesting in Kakus while state PKR acting chairman Abang Zulkifli Abang Engkeh will contest in Beting Maro.
"There is a change in our strategy where we are focusing on seats that we can win instead of contesting a large number of seats.
"In the past, we would field our candidates in as many seats as possible to avoid giving Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) or the then Sarawak Barisan Nasional (BN) a free pass akin to a walkover," he said at a press conference today.
"It is about winning and not contesting this time around. Besides, this could also avoid overlapping seats with our partners in the Pakatan Harapan (PH), especially DAP. We are in the same boat," he said.
Joshua said there are many other parties contesting in the state polls, including Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) hence, it is unlikely GPS could win many seats uncontested.
However, there is no deal with PSB as they are not part of the PH coalition.
PKR Bandar Kuching chairman and Sarawak election director Dominique Ng said the drastic reduction of the seats that PKR will be contesting in was also due to the party's limited resources.
"We have to be realistic in our expectations and our limited resources. We apologise to the areas where our members have been working on the ground yet we decided not to contest this time," he said.
Although it has been reported that Sarawak DAP will contest in 26 seats and Amanah in nine seats, Joshua said PKR has no issue if Amanah wishes to contest in seats which the party did not want to contest in.
Other seats that PKR will be contesting in are Opar (Meneng Biris), Tupong (Ahmad Nazib Johari), Satok (Nor Dahlia Esapian Eyau), Batu Lintang (Chrishe Ng), Asajaya (Mahmud Epah), Serumbu (Michael Sawing), Tarat (Christo Michael), Tebedu (Senior William Rade), Sadong Jaya (Piee Bin Ling), Lingga (Abang Abdul Kasim Abang Bujang), Saribas (Patrick Kamis), Bukit Saban (Mikail Mathew Abdullah), Ngemah (Satu Anchom), Machan (M Fazi @ Joseph Usit), Telian (Mohd Arwin Abdullah), Balingian (Abdul Jalil Bujang), Katibas (Munan Laja), Murum (Ani Amat), Bekenu (Norhafizah Johari), Lambir (Zolhaidah Suboh), Marudi (Elias Lipi), Telang Usan (Philip Jau Ding), Mulu (Roland Engan), Batu Danau (Racha Balang) and Ba'kelalan (Martin Samuel Labo).
The 12th Sarawak election will be held on Dec 18, with nominations on Dec 6 and early voting on Dec 14.
Last week, the PKR state leadership council accused the DAP of refusing to negotiate openly and transparently over certain seats.
The seat tussle began when PKR wanted to contest in Kemena, Pujut and Piasau which had been allocated to DAP.
Sarawak PH chairman Chong Chieng Jen said the PH parties had agreed in January to contest all 82 seats, including PKR in 47 seats, DAP in 26 seats including the three seats (Kemena, Pujut and Piasau) and Amanah in nine seats.