If Pakatan wins, Baru next CM

KUCHING: PKR Sarawak chief Baru Bian will likely be the state’s chief minister should Pakatan Rakyat oust Barisan Nasional (BN) come polling day on April 16.
What is more surprising is that Baru’s name was suggested by Sarawak DAP amid talks of a split between the party and PKR, which is vying for the most seats among the three Pakatan component parties in this key state polls.
However, this remains a proposition, said PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
“Baru was suggested because he is the state leader (of PKR) but we will need to sit and discuss it first. It was DAP that suggested Baru,” she told a press conference here.
“Traditionally, the party with the most number of seats will lead,” added the PKR president who was flanked by other Pakatan top guns like ousted Perak PAS menteri besar Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin in a bid seemingly aimed at displaying a united front.
This would help the state’s Pakatan chapter dodge accusations, at least for the time being, that it cannot overcome its internal strife and lead a united front.
Sarawak DAP secretary Chong Chieng Jen said the decision to nominate Baru was made during the pact’s first meeting after the setting up of the Sarawak Pakatan Rakyat Council last year.
PKR is contesting for 49 seats while DAP is gunning for 15, and PAS five from the 71 state assembly seats, with most of them embroiled in multi-cornered fights against independents or candidates from the the Dayak-based Sarawak National Party (Snap).
Snap, which was initially in collaboration with Pakatan but went its separate way following failure to conclude seat distribution talks with PKR, is contesting for 27 Dayak-majority seats.
Observers believe this would only benefit Barisan Nasional with the Dayak votes likely to split between PKR and Snap although leaders from both parties believe otherwise.
Nevertheless, pundits were unanimous in their belief that the chances for Pakatan to oust BN remained wishful thinking, and the opposition would also find it hard to deny the ruling coalition its customary two-third majority.
The last state polls in 2006 saw a then divided opposition garnering seven seats with DAP leading the pack with five. Now a formal coalition, Pakatan is confident of securing more seats.