BY AMYRA VARKISA & LEE SHAW WEI
KUCHING: Many big names are among the candidates vying for the 31 parliamentary seats in the 15th general election (GE15).
Among them are Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) component parties’ leaders.
Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president Datuk Joseph Salang Gandum will contest in Julau while Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) president Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing will defend his Bintulu seat.
Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) secretary-general, Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi will also defend his Kapit seat while PRS Women chief, Datuk Seri Doris Sophia Brodie is standing in Sri Aman.
In the GE14, Salang contested on a BN-PRS ticket but failed to defend the seat he had held for four consecutive terms in a straight fight with Julau incumbent and Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) president Datuk Larry Sng Wei Shien.
Salang lost to Sng by 1,931 votes after garnering a total of 8,174 votes against 10,105 obtained by the Sng. However, in this election, Salang and Sng will be caught in a four-cornered fight together with Susan George@Suhana Abdullah of PBDS and Elly Lawai who is an independent candidate.
Meanwhile, Tiong, who retained Bintulu in the 2018 general election after securing a 7,022-vote majority, will face Chiew Chan Yew of Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Duke Janteng of Perikatan Nasional (PN) in a three-cornered fight.
Nanta, who is also the GPS secretary-general, will face Khusyairy Pangkas @ Pangkas Unggang of PH and Robert Saweng of Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) in Kapit.
Nanta is seeking his sixth term in office.
Doris, on the other hand, will face incumbent Datuk Masir Kujat (independent candidate), Wilson Entabang (Parti Sarawak Bersatu or PSB), and PH candidate, Tay Wei Wei from Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) in a four-cornered fight.
Meanwhile, PSB president Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh will fight incumbent Oscar Ling of Democratic Action Party (DAP) and Clarence Ting of GPS in a three-cornered fight in Sibu.
Sarawak DAP chairman cum Stampin incumbent, Chong Chieng Jen will be defending his seat in a three-cornered tussle against Lo Khere Chiang of GPS and Lue Ching Hing of Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) who will contest under the PSB logo.
In the meantime, Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) president Voon Lee Shan will fight Bandar Kuching incumbent cum DAP candidate Dr Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen and Tay Tze Kok of GPS in a three-cornered fight.
In GE14, Chong contested in Stampin against Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian; he obtained 33,060 votes against Dr Sim’s 18,839 votes.
