Salang speaks to reporters when met at BCCK on Saturday night.
KUCHING (Nov 20): Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president Datuk Joseph Salang Gandum said the party will analyse his second defeat in the Julau parliamentary seat in the 15th General Election (GE15).
Salang remarked that he accepted the election result with an open heart and voiced the possibility of another candidate to be fielded in the seat in the next general election.
“Over time, we will analyse as to why the result is that way and maybe we can remedy it in the future. Not for me but for other people,” he said to reporters.
He said this when met at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) on last night, where the state ruling Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) coalition leaders gathered for the official announcement of GE15 results.
Salang opined that a lower voter turnout rate of 65.8 per cent might have also played a role in his loss.
“Nonetheless, the voters have made up their mind. The result is a reflection of the voters’ preference and it is also quite surprising that a lot of votes went to the independent candidate.”
Salang explained the voters had offered a positive response during his campaign trail and therefore, it was rather disappointing that the electoral result was not in his favour.
Salang recorded his second election loss to Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) president Datuk Larry Sng, who won the seat with a majority of 1,340 votes after polling 9,159
Salang received 7,819 votes while independent candidate Elly Lawai Ngalai and Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak’s (PBDS) Susan George received 5,224 votes and 335 votes, respectively.
There are a total of 34,850 registered voters in Julau and the turnout rate was at 65.8 per cent.
In the 2018 general election, Salang lost to Sng, who was then an independent candidate, with the latter collecting 10,105 votes with a majority of 1,931 votes in a straight fight.