Mambong a hot seat every state election
THE state constituency of Mambong, previously known as Bengoh, is one of the earliest state seats and one of the hotlycontested ones in each and every state election.
Though the Alliance and then Barisan Nasional have always won the seat, it was won by an independent candidate once, Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) once, and even represented by Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) for a short period.
For this upcoming state election, Mambong is again buzzing with not just speculations about how many opponents will be faced by Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), but who gets to be the GPS candidate.
GPS is scheduled to name all its 82 candidates this Saturday, but according to previous news reports the Mambong seat is one of three seats where there is overlapping interest among GPS components.
This is because its incumbent Datuk Dr Jerip Susil is now a member of GPS backbone Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) but the seat is always seen as a traditional seat for fellow GPS component Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP).
Till the time of writing, both PBB and SUPP through their Mambong branches are still carrying out activities in the constituency to win the heart of voters there as they want to show which party should get the nod to nominate its candidate to represent GPS.
The incumbent Dr Jerip first won the seat on a BN-SUPP ticket in the 2001 state election. He had been picked by SUPP to join the party, since he had been viewed as a rising political figure when he was then the secretarygeneral of State Reform Party (STAR).
Dr Jerip then successfully defended the seat in the next three state elections including in 2016 when he was asked to stand as a BN-direct candidate a er he had quit SUPP to join BN-friendly United People’s Party (UPP).
Though he like the other winning direct candidates were given a choice to join any BN component a er the 2016 election, Dr Jerip chose to return to UPP (later rebranded as PSB) which remained BN-friendly.
But when PSB chose to break ranks with the ruling coalition which was GPS in July 2019, Dr Jerip applied to join PBB and was subsequently accepted as a member on Oct 24 that year and brought the seat to PBB.
It was reported that PBB Mambong has nominated Dr Jerip to defend the seat.
Sources close to PBB Mambong claimed Dr Jerip should be chosen due to his popularity and to avoid a repeat of the 2018 general election when the state BN (now GPS) lost Puncak Borneo as the candidate was not a favourite among supporters.
On the other hand, SUPP has named Ahkim Sarok, Jimson Juim and Andrew Victor Nub as its potential candidates for Mambong.
Andrew is the son of the late Datuk William Tanyuh Nub, a twoterm Bengoh assemblyman who gave way to Dr Jerip to replace him as the BN candidate in 2001.
SUPP top leaders have repeatedly mentioned that Mambong is its traditional seat, since it had won the seat (then known as Bengoh) in 1970 state election and successfully defended it many times.
On the other side of the political fence, PSB looks set to name Sanjan Daik from Kampung Bunuk as its candidate although an official announcement has yet to be made by the party.
Sanjan, a teacher turned lawyer, had a good run in 2016 as the DAP candidate when he polled 2,828 votes against Dr Jerip in a tough three-cornered fight which saw the other opponent (now Datuk) Willie Mongin, then the PKR candidate, securing 2,645 votes.
Sanjan quit DAP in July last year, and wasted little time to introduce himself and PSB after joining the party through various activities held in villages in the constituency.
Meanwhile, DAP has named its Mambong branch chairman, businessman Chang Ho Hiung, as its candidate to represent Pakatan Harapan (PH).
Though it will be a debut for Chang, who hails from Siburan, he had actually worked behind the scenes in past elections and would not be a stranger to the voters there.
Sarawak People’s Aspiration Party (Aspirasi) has also named its candidate for Mambong, namely Chong Siew Hung. However, not much is known about Chong who will also be making her election debut.
The contest in Mambong could be a five-cornered fight if Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) proceeds to place a candidate there.
PBK has reportedly mentioned before that Mambong is one of the Bidayuh-majority seats eyed by the party, but it has so far yet to announce its candidate there.
The possibility of independent candidates contesting also cannot be discounted, if a disgruntled member of GPS or PKR decides to give it a go.
That being said, Mambong or previously Bengoh has always been a hot seat since it was first contested in 1970 although it seldom sees multi-cornered fights such as a five-cornered fight in 1970.
In 1983, (now Datuk) Wilfred Rata Nissom won the seat on an independent ticket, while the now-defunct PBDS won it in 1987 through Sora Rusah before he defected to PBB.
All eyes and ears will be on the announcement to be made by GPS chairman Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg in the next few days on whether or not PBB or SUPP gets the nod for the GPS ticket in Mambong, or whether the direct candidate formula will be introduced.
Many pundits believe PSB will be GPS’ strongest challenger in Mambong and could make an upset come polling day on Dec 18.