Paul: Mawan could be dropped in Saratok

KUCHING: Saratok member of Parliament Tan Sri William Mawan Ikom could be dropped by the Barisan Nasional (BN) for the next parliamentary election as he is not a member of any party within the BN coalition.

Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) senior vice-president Datuk Paul Igai did not rule out the possibility of Mawan being dropped simply because he is party-less.

Paul pointed out that Saratok traditionally belongs to PDP and in the spirit of BN must be given back to the party, which was formerly known as the Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP).

“As a senior member of PDP and BN, I prefer BN to stick to its traditional seat arrangement and to field the candidates who represent their respective parties within BN and not outside the party.

“As far I know we have not received any official application from Mawan to re-join PDP although we still welcome him and others who wish to return to the party. So up to now, I assume he is still party-less,” he told thesundaypost yesterday.

According to Paul, another reason Mawan should be dropped is that there is an understanding in Sarawak BN that no one should serve both as a parliamentarian as well as a state assemblyperson.

He also cited Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas’ recent statement that no one should hold both a parliamentary and state assembly seat.

“I fully support Uggah’s statement on the matter and I hope both the state and national BN will adhere to the concept. It is up to the BN leadership to decide whoever they want to field in Saratok, but the candidate must be from PDP or any other party in BN,” he said.

Paul added that PDP has identified entrepreneurs Subeng Mula and Basil Thomas, as well as medical practitioner Dr James Chella as potential candidates for Saratok.

“We are going to use the Mas Gading formula in 2013 to decide on our candidate in Saratok, which has proven to be effective,” he said.

During the last parliamentary election, Mawan, who was then SPDP president, defeated Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s (PKR) Ali Biju by a 2,081-vote majority.

He later quit SPDP following internal disputes in May 2014 to join the newly-formed Parti Tenaga Rakyat Sarawak (Teras).

During the last state election, Mawan was given the chance to defend Pakan as a direct BN candidate and won by a slim majority of 426 votes.

As a senior member of PDP and BN, I prefer BN to stick to its traditional seat arrangement and to field the candidates who represent their respective parties within BN and not outside the party. — Datuk Paul Igai, Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) senior vice-president