THE stage seems set for at least a three-cornered fight in Mambong, formerly called Bengoh, in the 11th state election.
This is because PKR and the DAP — both coalition partners in Pakatan Harapan (Pakatan)—seem to have irreconcilable differences in that constituency.
Candidates from both parties won’t budge from their decision to contest, and that must come as good news for the BN.
PKR had announced Willie Mongin for Mambong.
Willie, who is an IT consultant with a Bsc (Hons) in Computing from Staffordshire University, said he was firm in his decision.
“I have worked so hard to make our presence felt, moving on the ground not just within the state but also in the parliamentary constituency over the past six years or so; therefore, I will not give in to someone who has just appeared months ago.
“I admit it is a mess now, but I’m ready to even face a multi-cornered fight because I think I stand a better chance against the incumbent, whom I faced in the last poll,” he said.
Willie is no stranger to the electorate in Mambong.
Opinions among core opposition supporters indicated Willie is a good bet to take on former Bengoh assemblyman Dr Jerip in Mambong as he (Willie) had a good outing in the last state election.
During the 10th state election in 2011, Willie garnered 4,447 votes, but BN’s Dr Jerip had 3,646 more votes.
DAP’s pick is Sanjan Daik, and he insisted he would not give in too.
“Our party leadership had announced my candidacy in Mambong, and I will definitely go down even if it has to be a multi-cornered fight,” said Sanjan, who appeared as DAP’s aspiring candidate when the election fever started spreading last year.
Before he retired and joined DAP, Sanjan was an English lecturer at Teacher Education Institute, Batu Lintang Campus.
Aside from having an education degree from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Sanjan also has a law degree from University of London.
Although the DAP had made its name among several Bidayuh villages through its `Impian Sarawak’ initiative, most Bidayuhs still seemed doubtful about DAP’s promises to treat Dayaks equally in the party.
To them, the DAP is basically still a Chinese-dominated party and is likely to behave like SUPP if it came to power.
In the past, the main complaint against the late Datuk William Tanyuh Nub and Dr Jerip was that they were with the wrong party, namely SUPP, which was not really accepted by the Bidayuhs.
BN may have a hard time in Mambong if it is a straight fight against PKR.
This is because 9,084 of the voters from Bengoh, of which about 80 per cent of them Bumiputeras, had been shifted to Serembu.
This shift means the racial breakdown for Mambong had changed, too.
In the past, the BN candidate can be assured of victory by merely securing more than 60 per cent of Bidayuh votes.
However, this is no longer true as Mambong has been left with 16,803 voters, of which more than 4,500 are Chinese and the rest Bumiputeras.
Assuming that all the Chinese votes go to PKR, then PKR merely needed about 32 per cent of Bumiputera votes to bring down BN’s fortress.
If splits in the opposition votes could not be avoided, it looks like BN is going to have an easy ride in Mambong.
Former Assistant Minister of Public Health Datuk Dr Jerip Susil had been given the task to defend the seat for BN, again.
Dr Jerip won the seat three times since 2001 under the BN-SUPP ticket.
He, however, left the party in 2014 to form United People’s Party (UPP) together with Minister of Local Government and Community Development Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh and two former SUPP elected representatives—Ranum Mina (Opar) and Johnical Rayong (Engkilili).
Given UPP is only a BN-friendly party and not a BN component party, Dr Jerip would be fielded as a direct BN candidate.
To meet the criteria set by the Chief Minister and state BN chairman Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem, he had resigned from UPP.
Before Dr Jerip first won the seat in 2001, he stood as an independent candidate in 1996 and lost only narrowly to the late William Tanyuh, who represented SUPP-BN.
Now that he is no longer a member of SUPP, he is seen as a force to be reckoned with, given his strong support among Bidayuh voters.
Although Dr Jerip’s selection was most unwelcome among SUPP members, BN can still expect its candidate to win.
This is because SUPP, which had claimed that the seat was traditionally theirs, has long fallen out of favour not only with the Bidayuhs but also the Chinese.