KUCHING: Pelagus incumbent Larry Sng, who was dropped from the state Barisan Nasional (BN) line-up, said yesterday he will not contest in the Pelagus seat in the April 16 state election.
The two-term Pelagus incumbent made his decision known via Twitter ahead of tomorrow’s nomination for all the 71 state seats.
“I will throw my support to BN,” he said alluding to his political fate, of which Sng’s supporters said his unwavering support and loyalty to Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud and the BN were being put to the test.
However, Sng, 33, said he would not be campaigning in any of the nine Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) seats since its party president Datuk Seri James Masing had publicly announced that he did not need the Pelagus incumbent to win in Pelagus.
On Sunday, Masing said the party’s new face Stanley Unja had a very good chance of defending the Iban majority seat, where Sng had stood under the PRS ticket in the May 2006 state election and under the now deregistered Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) ticket in 2001.
Sng’s supporters had since expressed their wish for him to stand as an independent candidate this time, including in Meradong, the hometown of his father-in-law corporate figure Tan Sri Ting Pek Khiing.
He was sacked from PRS in 2007 due to insubordination following an internal leadership crisis.
Even days before Sng was told by the BN leadership that he would not be renominated, he had said he was still planning trips to go back to Pelagus.
“So, as far as the people of Pelagus are concerned, I will continue to serve them. That is my compliment to them,” said Sng, who replaced his father, former Pelagus state assemblyman Datuk Sng Chee Hua in the constituency. — Bernama