The Sarawak State Legislative Assembly (SLA) is officially dissolved today to pave the way for the 13th state election.
Up for grabs are the 82 state seats.
In the previous SLA, Gabungan Parti Sarawak held 8o seats while the sole opposition, Sarawak DAP, held two seats.
On Dec 18 2021 state election, GPS, led by Abang Johari, won 77 seats. But after Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) dissolved itself, its three SLMs joined Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), one of the four component parties of GPS. However, See Chee How who won in Batu Lintang opted to leave PSB before it was dissolved.
With the additional three seats, GPS's total SLMs jumped to 80.
It will be the second time for Abang Johari to lead GPS into the state polls.
As for the state DAP, its total number of SLMs was reduced to two in the 2021 state election. In the 2016 state election, the party won in seven seats.
State DAP's two partners, PKR and Amanah, were completely wiped out.
It is safe to assume that among the four parties of GPS, PBB is expected to retain all its 47 seats in the coming state election. Its grassroots support is solid and the ground machinery is very well organised. The party is expected to field new faces as its candidates. Three of its incumbent SLMs have indicated that they would prefer to sit out in the state election.
However, the final decision still lies with the party leadership.
The current Kapit Member of Parliament Alexander Nanta Linggi has expressed his wish to contest a seat within the Kapit parliamentary constituency. He had confessed that he would not want to defend his parliamentary seat in the general election. There are three state seats within the Kapit parliamentary constituency.
So, which of the three seats he will contest? Obviously, Pelagus is out since it belongs to Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS). Will be fielded in Katibas or Bukit Goram?
On the surface, PRS may face tough challenges in one or two seats, unless it has fully recovered from its party election held a year ago.
Otherwise, PRS, under John Sikie Tayai as its new president, will have no problem in retaining all its 11 SLA seats.
There are problems between Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) and PDP over four seats - Engkilili, Bawang Assan, Batu Lintang and Bukit Assek.
Engkilili, Bawang Assan and Batu Lintang were won by PSB in 2021. After PSB was dissolved, Wong Soon Koh (Bawang Assan) and Johnical Rayong (Engkilili) joined PDP. See Chee How (Batu Lintang) elected to become an independent SLM. Bukit Assek, on the other hand, was won by PDP in the same election.
SUPP has insisted that these four seats are its traditional seats and says it has the right to nominate candidates in these four seats.
PDP is adamant, saying that these four seats now theirs to keep.
The quarrel over these four seats could spread to other constituencies. When that happens, GPS may lose some seats to the Opposition, especially the DAP.
This is because the DAP's presence in Batu Lintang and Bukit Assek has remained strong.
Political pundits do not give much hope to Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) and Parti Aspirasi Rakyat Sarawak (Aspirasi). For one thing, pundits say, these two parties lack financial resoures and another, the people do not think much of them.
Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) is also not expected to win any seat. It has indicated that it wants to contest in 37 Dayak-majority constituencies. Sometimes dreams may not necessarily become reality. It remains so.
At this moment, there are no signs that all the local parties are talking of forming an election alliance. It will be better for them to form an opposition coalition to face GPS in the election.
Maybe, it is still too early for them to think and talk about forming an opposition pack since the nomination and polling dates for the state election have not fixed yet.
State PKR, Amanah and PAS have also indicated they want to contest in the state election.
In the old days, Sarawak PKR used to have three state SLA seats when it was under Baru Bian as chairman. But after he left, the state PKR was reduced to an insignificant party. It has yet to recover.
We do not see much hope in Amanah and PAS to win any seat in the coming state election. These two Malayan-based parties have not won any single state or parliamentary seat in Sarawak's election history.
Political pundits believe that they will be going home with an empty hand in the coming state election.
No comments:
Post a Comment