Abang Jo leaves seat he held for 40 years to contest in rural constituency

SARAWAK POLLS | GPS chairperson Abang Johari Openg has decided to switch things up after having held the Satok state seat for 40 years.

The incumbent Sarawak chief minister will be moving out of the urban seat in Petra Jaya, which he won with 79 percent of the vote in 2016, and will instead contest in Gedong.

Gedong is a rural seat with a smaller vote base with a significantly higher percentage of bumiputera voters.

According to the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, 62 percent of Gedong voters are Malay/Melanau, while another 37 percent are non-Muslim bumiputeras. The remaining one percent of voters are Chinese.

Comparatively, Satok voters are 70 percent Malay/Melanau, 22 percent Chinese, and seven percent non-Muslim bumiputeras.

Abang Johari's vote share in Satok had dipped to 71.27 percent in 2011, but rose to 79.12 percent in 2016 when Sarawak was riding high on support for then chief minister Adenan Satem.

When Adenan died the next year, Abang Johari was appointed his successor.

Pundits say this year's election is Abang Johari's chance to prove that he deserves to be the chief minister by securing a mandate for GPS.

Meanwhile, firebrand PDP president Tiong King Sing will be contesting in the Sibu seat of Dudong against PSB and DAP.

The seat is a four-hour drive away from his power base in Bintulu, where he has been the MP since 1999. Tiong, however, was born in Sibu.

SUPP president Dr Sim Kui Han will be defending his Batu Kawah seat to face DAP's Dr Kelvin Yii.

Meanwhile, PRS is fielding Nicholas Kudi in Baleh, taking over from his late uncle James Masing.

PBB will be fielding the most candidates (47), up 17.5 percent compared to 2016, while SUPP will field 18 candidates, up 38.5 percent compared to before.

The number of candidates for PRS remains unchanged at 11 while PDP will field five candidates, one more than before.

This meant that most of the seats allocated to "BN direct candidates" in 2016 (13 seats) were allocated to PBB this time round.

PRS is the only GPS coalition party that will not see its top three leaders being fielded.

At a press conference this evening, Abang Johari said the theme for GPS this election was "Sarawak first" which will encompass a "digital economy" agenda and environmental sustainability.

He said GPS had followed through with the election pledges made by his predecessor Adenan Satem and the coalition will field 24 new faces, who together with the veterans, will ensure continuity of pro-Sarawak policies.

Asked on the criterion for choosing candidates, Abang Johari remarked: "Loyalty is important."

This was perhaps a reference to the fact that four lawmakers who stood on a "BN direct candidate" ticket in 2016 had defected to Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB).

 - Mkini