PBDS to contest only where grassroots presence established, eyes expanded base for upcoming S’wak polls

KUCHING (March 28): Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) will only contest seats where it has established a grassroots presence in the upcoming state elections, party president Dr John Brian Anthony said.

Speaking after officiating PBDS’ new headquarters at Mile 9 here, Dr John outlined a shift from the traditional top-down approach in selecting constituencies.

He said the party’s electoral strategy is now directly linked to its organisational strength at the branch level.

“What we are doing now is building from the ground up, we are building from the grassroots level, not from the top-down like most of the other political parties here in the state,” he told The Borneo Post.

Dr John stressed that the party’s presence in a constituency would be the deciding factor for fielding a candidate, ensuring continuity of programmes regardless of the election outcome.

“PBDS will contest if we have branches (in the constituencies) – we contest, and whether we win or lose we can still serve the people, there is continuity of our programmes.

“So if there is a PBDS branch in a state constituency, 100 per cent we will contest in the area,” he said.

The party currently has 28 branches, including the latest in Telang Usan, Mulu, and Marudi, with plans to increase to 35–38 branches in time for the polls.

Dr John said PBDS aims to establish at least 50 branches by the end of the year.

“If the state constituency remains at 82, it will be 82 branches; if the constituencies increase to 99, then we will set up 99 branches.

“Of course, we are focusing on Dayak-majority areas, and secondly we will be focusing at the urban mixed area where there is high Dayak population, it goes in phases

“Dayaks now mostly reside in town areas, and many Dayaks are also in Malay-majority areas, so this party is to cater for Dayak needs and to represent their voice,” he said.

“If we only focus on a very small area where there is a Dayak majority seat, that means we didn’t do much justice,” he added.

On the topic of alliances, Dr John left the door open for a strategic electoral pact, coining the term “PBDS+” to describe potential collaboration with other parties.

He also clarified that although PBDS currently holds no seats in the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly, it does not classify itself as part of the opposition.

“We are not an opposition party, we do not place ourselves as opposition, we actually cannot claim ourselves the opposition since we don’t have any seat in the Sarawak Legislative Assembly,” he said.

While the immediate focus remains on strengthening grassroots organisation and membership, Dr John acknowledged that alliances may become clearer as the election approaches.

“There could be (an electoral pact) because that is a political strategy, and should the election date go nearer then perhaps it becomes clearer.

“Today we just focus on strengthening our grassroots organisation and our membership drive, and we are explaining to our members our roadmaps, our plans for Sarawak,” he said.

He added that PBDS aims to be a serious contender to form the next state government and to bring the party into the mainstream.

“Should we present ourselves as a good alternative for the current team that is heading Sarawak, we should be able to work at a strategy where we could contest in Chinese-majority or Malay-majority areas.

“It could be the PBDS+, meaning to say we have to expand our base,” he said.