DAP flag – Malay Mail photo
THE two urban parliamentary seats of Bandar Kuching and Stampin have always attracted attention every general election due to the intense contest between Democratic Action Party (DAP) and Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) – be it under Barisan Nasional (BN) or the present Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS).
Both these seats cover the old and new commercial areas in Kuching, and are the economic heartbeat of the state capital.
There is even a popular saying among Kuchingites, especially the old-timers, that they will vote for BN/GPS during state elections, and for DAP or the Opposition during general elections, because they want to see a ‘check and balance’ between both sides.
Whether there is truth in this or not, the past few elections have seen BN/GPS winning in urban Kuching at the state level but losing at the parliamentary level.
Bandar Kuching has been won and represented by DAP for four consecutive terms since 2004, while DAP has won and represented Stampin for two terms since 2013.
As for state seats, BN/GPS have still failed to win the state seats that make up Bandar Kuching, namely Padungan, Pending and Batu Lintang since 2006.
GPS through SUPP did however make a clean sweep of all state seats under Stampin – Batu Kawa, Batu Kitang and Kota Sentosa – in last year’s state election.
These gains made by GPS-SUPP, plus reducing the vote-majority for the Opposition in Padungan, Pending and Batu Lintang, have led to renewed optimism that they could finally do what BN failed to do in the last general election: win an urban Kuching parliamentary seat.
And they showed they meant business by fielding the popular Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) chairman Lo Khere Chiang in Stampin to take on incumbent Chong Chieng Jen, who is the most recognisable figure in DAP and its Sarawak chapter chairman.
Lo, the two-term assemblyman for Batu Kitang, is widely known in Stampin where most areas are under the jurisdiction of MPP. An engineer by profession, the 62-year-old has been MPP chairman since 2010.
It will be an uphill task nonetheless to unseat Chong, 51, who is considered a political heavyweight in Sarawak as he had represented Bandar Kuching as MP for three terms before moving to Stampin in 2018.
Undeterred by the fact that all three state seats under Stampin are now represented by GPS, Chong chose to defend the seat despite earlier speculations he would move back to Bandar Kuching.
Standing in between Chong and Lo is Lue Cheng Hing of Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK), who is contesting on a Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) ticket as part of an alliance between the two parties.
Riding on nationalism and better governance, Lue may garner votes from those who follow his party’s ideology but could be seen as splitting the votes between the two big names there.
As for Bandar Kuching, SUPP is fielding new face Eric Tay Tze Kok, 44, to take on incumbent Dr Kelvin Yii, 36, from DAP.
While Tay may be seen as a greenhorn, he has been doing his groundwork since 2018 and could be seen through postings on his social media account doing community work, including during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The businessman is also a Youth leader in SUPP and he will be hoping his groundwork will endear him to voters come polling day.
On the other hand, Yii despite his young age is seen as a rising star in national politics and is currently Pakatan Harapan (PH) Youth chief – the first Sarawakian to hold such a role.
Bandar Kuching certainly seems like DAP’s stronghold but nobody can be certain what is brewing under the surface, especially with the fall of the PH-led government in February 2020, just 22 months after the coalition wrested Putrajaya from BN in the 2018 polls.
PBK president Voon Lee Shan is the other candidate in Bandar Kuching – also contesting on a PSB ticket. Not a stranger to voters, he is a former DAP man and had served as Batu Lintang assemblyman for one term from 2006 to 2011.
As a vocal advocate of Sarawak’s rights, Voon is expected to attract votes from those who support his party’s cause, but whether it will be enough to give him victory over his two younger opponents or merely split their votes will be known on Nov 19.
In 2018, Yii won Bandar Kuching by a whopping majority of 35,973 votes in a straight fight again SUPP’s Kho Teck Wan, while Chong trounced SUPP president Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian by 14,221 votes to secure Stampin.
A lot has changed in Sarawak politics since the 2018 polls. BN is no longer in control and GPS is the ruling state coalition going for their first national election on their own with their ‘Sarawak First’ battle cry.
Having won 76 out of the 82 state seats at stake in last year’ state election, GPS is confident the momentum will continue in this 15th General Election to allow it to win seats lost during the time of BN, including Bandar Kuching and Stampin.
There is a chance that GPS may win one of the two seats in urban Kuching, although this would require an almighty effort given the size of the majority obtained by the DAP incumbents in 2018.
For the PBK-PSB candidates, they will be hopeful of pulling off a surprise although the true battle appears to be between the traditional foes.
from Borneo Post Online https://bit.ly/3GdmskP
via IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment