Stakan to see at least three-cornered contest Dec 18

KUCHING: Stakan state seat, created during the last redistribution exercise in 2015, will see at least a three-cornered contest during the Dec 18 state election, with Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) joining the fray.

In the last state election, the first for Stakan, Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) veteran Dato Sri Ali Mahmud defeated Democratic Action

Party’s (DAP) Leslie Ting with a handsome majority of 7,042 votes in a straight fight.

With Ali not seeking reelection this time around, social activist George Young from PSB may now be facing one of the two potential PBB nominees in Dato Hamzah Ibrahim and Dato Ahmad Ibrahim.

So far there has been no word that the DAP will be dropping Ting in this coming polls despite garnering only 1,778 or 16 per cent of the votes in his first election foray in Stakan.

Hamzah and Ahmad are not close relatives despite having the same surname.

Hamzah is PBB Samarahan Youth chief while Ahmad is the Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) deputy chairman and PBB Batu Kawah branch chairman.

Ting is special assistant to Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii, who is also Sarawak DAP assistant secretary.

As far as George is concerned, PBB will most likely field Hamzah.

“Hamzah has been making his movements in the area. He was seen at Premier Food Court yesterday and meeting the Malay-Melanau community,” he said yesterday.

When asked about his chance of wresting Stakan from PBB, George said: “The community has been very receptive (to PSB) and also positive of a possible shift of power.”

“I think they are looking forward to something new in Stakan and I am giving them that feeling,” he added. PBB, the lynchpin party in Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), garnered 8,820 or 83.22 per cent of the votes cast in Stakan in the 2016 state election through Ali.

The number of registered voters then was 14,846 and turnout was about 73 per cent.

Around 4,800 were said to be postal votes, mostly from the Army group.