By G Thomas
MIRI: Northern Sarawak is expected to see big fights in three out of the six sizeable parliamentary constituencies in the region that cover almost one third of Sarawak.
Bintulu, Sibuti, Miri, Baram, Limbang and Lawas make up the northern portion of this huge state not just in terms of land size but also in terms of population.
When the nomination process closed yesterday, big fights were shaping up in Miri, Lawas and Baram while in Bintulu, Sibuti and Limbang, the contests might not be as intense.
Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) seems to have the upper hands in Bintulu, Sibuti and Limbang but in the other three seats of Miri, Baram and Lawas, its fate is uncertain.
In Lawas, which is located next to Sabah, it will be the first time in the local history that an election has become hot and intense.
Datuk Henry Sum Agong of Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu PBB is the GPS candidate. He is being challenged by another local strongman in the form of Baru Bian from Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB). Baru is also Ba’kelalan assemblyman and PSB deputy president. Both are popular with the Lawas folk.
Parti Keadilan Rakyat candidate Japar Suyut makes up the third candidate in Lawas but the main fight will be between Henry and Baru.
In Miri, GPS candidate Jeffery Phang will face the very experienced former mayor Datuk Lawrence Lai of PSB and new boy Chiew Choon Man from PKR.
Dr Teo Yu Keng from PKR held Miri for two terms. He is not defending the seat after he was dropped as candidate by PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim suddenly last Tuesday.
However, since PKR won by almost 14,000 votes in GE14 in 2018, it still has the advantage.
Phang and his SUPP teams in Miri will have to work extra from now until polling day to win the hearts of voters.
The situation in Miri is uncertain as there are 143,000 voters. That is a big increase from 86,000 voters in the last general election in 2014.
How the new voters will vote is still unknown, thus all contesting sides still have an open chance in Miri.
In Baram, incumbent GPS candidate Anyi Ngau is being challenged by PKR candidate and state chairman Roland Engan as well as an independent Wilfred Entila.
This will be the third time that Ngau and Engan will square off against each other.
In the last general election in 2018, Anyi won by only about 200 votes. This time, it will be another keenly contested fight between two familiar foes.
The seats in Northern Sarawak are no longer the safest for the ruling state coalition but GPS is still hopeful.
