KUCHING: Four days before the nomination day on Nov 5, Perikatan Nasional (PN) made a ‘shocking but not surprising’ announcement to contest in four seats in Sarawak in the 15th general election (GE15).
This was despite the coalition having stayed out of the 12th Sarawak state election in December last year.
Among those contesting in GE15 under the PN banner in Sarawak are Datuk Ali Biju, who is defending his Saratok seat and Lubok Antu incumbent Jugah Muyang, who is seeking his second term.
The two incumbents in the rural seats were said to have wanted to join Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) component parties but had been rejected.
GPS components Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) has fielded Giendam Jonathan Tait in Saratok and Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) has named Roy Angau Gingkai to contest in Lubok Antu; both of them newcomers.
Political scientist at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Prof Datuk Dr Jayum Jawan felt it would be difficult for the new faces from the GPS component parties to wrest the seats from PN as the two incumbents know the tricks, especially on what to say to appeal to the voters.
Furthermore, he said, the climate in GE15 was not really about BN returning to power but PN and Pakatan Harapan (PH) being the leading contenders due to the fact that BN, especially its backbone, Umno is under a cloud over many things its leaders have done.
Ali, who is also the caretaker Deputy Energy and Natural Resources Minister, won the seat under a PKR ticket in the last general election in 2018, by garnering 11,848 votes in a straight fight against BN’s Subeng Mula, with a majority of 989 votes.
However, he left PKR to join Bersatu after the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government in 2020.
In the last state election, he withdrew as an Independent candidate for the Krian state seat midway through the campaign to support the GPS candidate from PDP.
Ali is facing two challengers in Saratok namely GPS’ Giendam and Ibil Jaya from PKR.
Meanwhile, Jugah won Lubok Antu as an independent with 5,843 votes, beating BN’s Robert Pasang Alam by a majority of 4,775 votes in 2018.
He joined PKR shortly after GE14, but quit in 2020 to become a PN-friendly Independent.
He applied to return to PRS but was unsuccessful, thus, decided to join Bersatu and contest under PN ticket in GE15.
Jayum said contesting under PN would not be an issue for both incumbents as the voters actually know them well.
“Yes, the PN logo is something new to the locals but it is not a problem.
“Besides, both Ali and Jugah did not perform any less compared to any Dayak MPs in Sarawak, thus they have the chances to win even if they stood as candidates in any political parties,” he said.
Jugah is facing Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) candidate Dr Johnical Rayong Ngipa, GPS candidate Roy and PKR candidate Langga Lias in Lubok Antu.
Jayum said Langga is an unknown in Lubok Antu while Rayong, who is also the Engkilili assemblyman is a spent force who no longer has a strong influence.
“So, the real battle in Lubok Antu is actually between GPS and PN.
“As for GPS (Roy), he has the support and help of a well-greased election machinery,” he added.
Although it might not be an easy fight for PRS, its Youth chief Datuk Snowdan Lawan believed Roy still stands a good chance to win in Lubok Antu, especially with the support of veteran politician Datuk William Nyallau Badak.
Nyallau, a two-term former Lubok Antu MP, had resigned from PSB to lend support to GPS in the seat.
“It is something like a reconciliation between present and former PRS members,” he said recently.
PN also fielded two other candidates in Sarawak, Duke Janteng from Bersatu in Bintulu and a PAS candidate who is yet to be named in Batang Lupar.
