By LEE SHAW WEI & GOH PEI PEI
KUCHING: Sarawak Democratic Action Party (DAP) has retained five seats, including Stampin, which was among the hottest in the Chinese-majority urban areas in the 15th general election (GE15) in the state.
It retained Mas Gading, Stampin, Bandar Kuching, Sibu and Lanang.
However, it lost Sarikei, a seat which had been held by the opposition party for two terms since 2013, to Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS).
GPS’candidate, Datuk Seri Huang Tiong Sii, who is also the Repok assemblyman, polled 20,080 votes to wrest the seat from DAP’s new face Roderick Wong, with a majority of 3,697 votes.
Wong, who was named to replace his father Andew Wong Ling Biu, failed to deliver the seat for DAP in a straight fight against Huang.
In Stampin, Sarawak DAP chairman, Chong Chieng Jen garnered 39,310 votes to defeat GPS’ candidate, Lo Khere Chiang (32,152 votes) and Lee Cheng Hing of Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) (2,291votes).
Chong won with a reduced majority of 7,158 votes, compared to the result of the last general election.
In GE14, Chong, who was then a three-term Member of Parliament (MP) for Bandar Kuching, decided not to defend his seat and moved to Stampin which was then considered a grey area.
He defeated Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) president Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian, with a majority of 14,221 votes in a straight fight in 2018.
DAP’s Oscar Ling, who is also the party’s GE15 campaign director, retained Sibu; he defeated two new faces, namely, GPS candidate, Clarence Ting Ing Horh and Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) president, Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh.
Ling polled 31,287 votes and won with a majority of 7,760 votes; he defeated Ting (23,527 votes) and Wong (11,128 votes).
Meanwhile, Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) president Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh only managed to garner 11,128 votes.
In GE14, Ling successfully retained the seat with a majority of 11,422 votes in a four-cornered fight. He collected 33,811 votes while BN candidate, the late Datuk Andrew Wong Kee Yew (Soon Koh’s son) polled 22,389 votes.
Meanwhile, DAP candidate, Mordi Bimol retained the Mas Gading seat with a majority of 5,480 votes. He garnered 17,274 votes while GPS’ candidate, Lidang Disen polled 11,794 while Sim Min Leong of Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) lost his deposit with just 2,311 votes.
Mordi was the first DAP Dayak MP when he won the Bidayuh-majority seat in 2018 with a majority of 3,024 votes against Barisan Nasional candidate, Datuk Anthony Nogeh Gumbek.
In Bandar Kuching, as expected, DAP incumbent, Dr Kelvin Yii, retained the seat, with a majority of 28,891 votes. He collected a total of 45,353 votes and defeated GPS candidate Eric Tay (16,426 votes) and Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) candidate Voon Lee Shan (1,760 votes).
DAP Alice Lau also retained Lanang with a majority of 11,544 votes. She polled 30,120 votes and defeated GPS candidate, Wong Ching Yong (18,576 votes), Priscilla Lau of PSB (3,663 votes) and independent Datuk Wong Tiing Kiong (587 votes).
Apart from the incumbents’ seats, DAP also fielded candidates in Serian and Bintulu, which they lost to GPS.
