‘Friendly’ fights in GPS on the cards in Sarawak polls?
Oh Ei Sun of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs said that the central GPS leadership is unlikely to sanction such contests despite the tension between its two components — Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) led by Tiong King Sing and Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) led by Dr Sim Kui Hian.
He pointed out that such contests are commonplace in Sarawak and Sabah despite the fact that the anti-party hopping law is already in place in both states.
This was evident in the Sabah polls in November, which saw candidates like Fairuz Renddan, Awang Ahmad Sah Sahari, Rina Jainal and Jordan Jude Ellron contesting against Gabungan Rakyat Sabah candidates as independents and winning before declaring support for the coalition.
“Similar contests could take place between official GPS candidates and one or more independents, who are obviously supported by other GPS component parties.
“In the event that independents win in their constituencies, they would then join or closely associate themselves with the parties that had supported them,” he told FMT.
Given that there is no strong opposition bloc in Sarawak, such electoral contests would be better than no contest at all, Oh added.
The dispute between PDP and SUPP revolves around the Bawang Assan and Engkilili seats currently held by PDP senior vice-president Wong Soon Koh and vice-president Johnical Rayong Ngipa respectively.
Wong has been Bawang Assan assemblyman since 1991, while Rayong has represented Engkilil since 2006, when they were both in SUPP.
After he was sacked in 2014, Wong formed Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB), while Rayong joined the party in 2018. SUPP has repeatedly tried and failed to wrest the two seats from the duo’s grasp.
In 2024, PSB was dissolved and its members joined PDP en bloc, automatically giving Tiong’s party the two seats traditionally contested by SUPP for GPS.
Last week, Sim announced SUPP’s candidate for the Bawang Assan seat, drawing a sharp rebuke from Wong who accused the Sarawak deputy premier of being “immature” and overstepping his authority.
Internal tussle doesn’t augur well for GPS’s ‘united’ front
Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya said this internal tussle for seats would not augur well for GPS’s image of a united front. He expects coalition chairman Abang Johari Openg to forbid any form of “friendly” contests.
Awang Azman said some of GPS’s biggest strengths were its unity, stability and internal discipline, while allowing for friendly contests would only erode that image.
“I expect Abang Johari to hold closed-door negotiations to mediate between the two components before deciding on one official GPS candidate for each seat. The final decision is in the hands of the GPS chairman.
“If two GPS components contest, voters will ask: who is the state government’s candidate? Who has Sarawak premier (Abang Johari)’s mandate?”
However, Awang Azman said, any hopes that Pakatan Harapan (PH) will benefit from this rivalry is misplaced, given that it had performed poorly in both constituencies in past state elections.
“PH will need more than the votes splitting to win the seats,” he added.
In the 2021 Sarawak polls, Wong won the Bawang Assan seat with a 913-vote majority ahead of the GPS candidate, Robert Lau of SUPP, who garnered 5,039 votes. DAP’s candidate only managed to get 1,173 votes.
On the other hand, PH last contested Engkilili in 2016, fielding a PKR candidate who received only 532 votes. Rayong went on to win the seat with a 3,857-vote majority over his closest contender, an independent candidate.
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