Chong (centre seated) poses with the candidates after they received their party’s authorisation letters on Nov 26. Eight more candidates are waiting to be announced by the party. – Photo by Chimon Upon
COMMENTARY: Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak recently announced its candidates for 18 out of the 26 constituencies it will be contesting in the coming state election.
In explaining the decision not to announce the remaining eight names for the time being, its chief Chong Chieng Jen said it was a ‘strategic’ decision as the party would wait for Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) or Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) to reveal their picks for the seats in question.
The seats are Padungan, Pending, Kota Sentosa, Batu Kawah, Batu Kitang and Stakan in Kuching, and Bawang Assan and Dudong in Sibu.
And since GPS will be announcing its line-up of candidates on Dec 4, DAP is expected to finally announce its eight remaining candidates on the eve of the Dec 6 nomination day at the latest.
The ‘strategic’ move would suggest that the seats are the ones DAP are really resting its hopes on in maintaining its representation in the Sarawak Dewan Undangan Negeri, especially since Padungan, Pending and Kota Sentosa are their seats.
However, by choosing to wait until GPS announces their candidates, it also suggests that DAP may be uncertain of their line-up or their chances of winning or defending the seats.
Chong, the Kota Sentosa incumbent, had said DAP’s candidates for the seats in Kuching could be ‘inter changed’ and will be adjusted accordingly, depending on who their opponents are.
DAP’s move could be seen as a calculated attempt to ensure maximum chance of victory in those seats, where it will face opponents mainly from Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) and Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB).
DAP is still hoping to negotiate with PSB for Bawang Assan and Dudong. However, the odds that the parties will come to a compromise is slim. PSB president Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh and presidential council member Datuk Tiong Thai King are the Bawang Assan and Dudong incumbents respectively.
Chong has not ruled out the possibility of him switching to contest in Batu Kawah, where he would inevitably face incumbent Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian of SUPP in a battle of party chiefs.
At the same time, word on the ground is that DAP, in a move to keep its state chief safe, may field Chong in Padungan rather than the more difficult Batu Kawah where Dr Sim has built a solid ground base since winning in 2016.
Padungan is viewed by DAP as the party’s stronghold, seeing that its candidate had won there in 2011 and 2016 albeit with a reduced majority the second time around.
In 2011, Wong King Wei secured 11,957 votes in a three-cornered fight to win Padungan by a majority of 7,884. He retained it in 2016, again in a three-cornered fight, but saw his majority drop to 4,270 votes.
Wong quit DAP in July 2020, meaning DAP will definitely field a new face in the constituency.
Regardless of Wong’s reduced majority in 2016, Padungan is still considered a safer bet than Batu Kawah or perhaps even Kota Sentosa which Chong has held since 2006.
In the 2006 polls, he defeated SUPP heavyweight Datuk Alfred Yap with a slim 531 majority and retained it five years later against the same opponent, this time with a majority of 4,824.
In the last state election, Chong defeated SUPP’s Wilfred Yap but saw his majority reduced to 2,819.
If he decides to remain in Kota Sentosa this time around, he will likely face a candidate from SUPP as well as a third challenger in the form of PSB’s Datuk John Lau who has been actively moving on the ground in the past year or so.
This would mean a possible split in the opposition votes which will work in SUPP’s favour, hence the talk of Chong switching seats.
Dr Sim himself had, following his trouncing in Pending against DAP’s Violet Yong in the 2011 polls, shifted to Batu Kawah in 2016 in what was a strategic move to maximise his chance of winning in view that the incumbent then, DAP’s Christina Chiew, had only won by a slim 543-majority in 2011.
The gambit paid off with Dr Sim defeating Chiew and independent Liu Thian Leong with a majority of 2,085 votes, thanks also to heavy support rendered by the then chief minister, the late Pehin Sri Adenan Satem, to Dr Sim during the campaigning period.
In fact, it has been acknowledged that the ‘Adenan factor’ swung Chinese voters in SUPP’s favour in 2016 which saw the party wrest Repok, Meradong, Dudong and Piasau from DAP.
With Adenan’s successor Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg carrying on the late Tok Nan’s legacy of people-centric development, SUPP appears to be well-placed to retain the seats it won in 2016 and may even win more at DAP’s expense.
This could very well be playing in the mind of DAP, hence the ‘strategic’ decision to wait until GPS/SUPP announces their candidates for the eight seats first, before deciding on the best matchup.
Will this pay off for DAP or will SUPP continue its upward trajectory from 2016? We’ll know come polling day.
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