Sarawak election: Opposition's loss is BN's gain

The most interesting thing about Sarawak state elections is each seat has it's own political dynamics.

While it is easy to say that the overlapping of seats between political allies DAP and PKR do not hurt the Pakatan Harapan coalition as a whole in seats like Batu Kitang, the same could not be said for Mambong (renamed from Bengoh).

Despite the less than stellar reputation of the direct Barisan Nasional candidate there, Datuk Dr Jerip Susil, political observers are right to give the former SUPP man the favourites' tag in this triple threat with PKR's Willie Mongin and DAP's Sanjan Daik.

The three-term assemblyman is well-liked by his constituents and seemed well poised to maintain his majority since the opposition votes will be split between DAP and PKR.

"I think he (Dr Jerip) will win again this time.

"We are familiar with him and his work," said Patrick Jolestin, a retiree and a voter of Mambong.

In the last state election in 2011, Dr Jerip secured the seat in a four-way battle royale with a majority of 3,646 votes.

Nevertheless, not all is gloom and doom for the Opposition, especially for Willie.

Most of the people there recognised him as he has been moving on the ground for the past five years.

In fact, some praised his responsiveness during the recent floods earlier this year where he offered his help to the residents affected by the floods.

"Willie can pose a threat to BN.

"He is quite popular. Whether is it because of his weekly programmes here or his presence in offering aid during the recent floods, I am not too sure," said Jalip Sumbi, a vegetable seller.

As for Sanjan, the DAP's choice for Mambong, most of the residents said he made his presence felt way too late.

"Definitely, he (Sanjan) has the ability to represent us here.

"However, by having two Opposition candidates contesting here is confusing. This may present Dr Jerip the advantage he needed," said Will Tony, a sales promoter.

To what extent Dr Jerip may be able to turn the Opposition's mistake into votes for him, we will have to wait until polling day on May 7.

---

*Hafiz is in Kuching Sarawak covering the 11th Sarawak State Election for Astro AWANI. Readers are welcome to share your opinion with him at hafiz_marzukhi@astro.com.my

**The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author's and do not necessarily reflect the view of Astro AWANI.