KUCHING: A divided opposition will be a bonus to Gabungan Parti Sarawak’s (GPS) bid to wrest the Mas Gading and Puncak Borneo parliamentary seats.
“There will be some fight in Mas Gading. DAP for sure will contest and so will Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) I heard,” said political observer Datuk Peter Minos.
“A split opposition adds an advantage to GPS,” he said in a statement on yesterday (Oct 31).
Minos said additionally, being a Malaya-based party, DAP may have problems gaining traction among Sarawak’s voters who have come to identify more with the ‘Sarawak First’ slogan of GPS.
On the Puncak Borneo parliamentary seat, Minos said many are wondering who will be GPS’ pick now that the incumbent, Datuk Willie Mongin had joined Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), one of the component parties that make up GPS.
“There are expectations that PBB/GPS will pick him. After all, he has been around in Puncak Borneo for years, trying and doing this and that for the locals both as member of parliament (MP) and Federal deputy minister.
“Many say he is likeable and winnable and it looks like that to me,” he said, referring to Willie.
Meanwhile, on Mas Gading, he said GPS is expected to win the seat as well.
“The DAP MP of Mas Gading, in the last four years, has displayed DAP’s culture, which is playing with rhetoric all the way.
“To the largely rural voters of Mas Gading, they want action, not rhetoric.
“They look up to the wakil rakyat that initiate and do many things, be it big or small and that is the reality of rural politics,” he emphasised.
Minos said rural voters in Mas Gading and Puncak Borneo all have one common desire and wish – to have a MP who serves the rakyat.
“Once an MP is voted in, they expect the MP to do something from them.
“From getting government water and electricity supplies, to land titles and SALCRA (Sarawak Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority) land development.
“Any MP who cannot deliver for whatever reasons,will be shown the door,” he predicted.
