It covers an area of 31,817 sq km, making it the same size as Pahang, Peninsular Malaysia’s largest state.
The constituency also provides three state seats to the Sarawak assembly. The state seats are Baleh , Belaga and Murum.
Hulu Rajang is the location of the controversial Bakun Hydroelectric Dam. It made headlines worldwide due to protests by environmentalists and the poor resettlement programmes for the affected residents.
As its name implies, Hulu Rajang is really an “ulu” (rural or interior) district in Sarawak. It is forested and hilly and sparsely populated.
One will surely wonder how the candidates contesting in Hulu Rajang are able to reach all the voters in the constituency. We should take our hats off to all the winners, the MPs of Hulu Rajang, both past and present, for their success in such a huge constituency with enormous obstacles.
Temenggong Jugah Barieng was the first MP of Hulu Rajang. He won the seat on a Pesaka ticket in a crowded field of five candidates in 1969.
Jugah attempted to pass the baton to his son, Linggi Jugah, in the 1974 election but Linggi was defeated by Sibat Miyut Tagong of SNAP.
The Jugah family concentrated on the Kapit seat following Linggi’s defeat and SNAP went on to hold the seat till this day, technically that is.
Today, Hulu Rajang is a PRS seat. The neighbouring Kapit seat remains a PBB stronghold and its incumbent MP is Linggi’s son, Alexander Nanta Linggi.
After Sibat, SNAP’s Justine Jinggut held the seat for two terms from 1982 till 1990.
By then, SNAP was a BN component party but even then, the voters of Hulu Rajang must never be underestimated.
While the popularity of the candidate is important, it appears that they also want their MP to be really working for them.
This was the reason why Justine lost the seat, despite contesting on a BN ticket, to an independent candidate, Billy Abit Joo.
It must also be noted that Billy Abit was backed by PBDS. The Dayak-based party was in the opposition at state level but with the BN at federal level at that time.
After PBDS rejoined the Sarawak BN, Billy Abit contested under the BN banner and won four consecutive terms until 2013.
Strange as it might be, Billy Abit was a quiet politician but managed to win four general elections.
Why? He worked hard for his constituents and brought development to the constituency. In other words, he lived up to the expectations of the electorate.
Not much is known about incumbent MP Wilson Ugak Kumbong but he is a confidante of PRS president Dr James Masing.
In GE13, Wilson was a runaway winner in a three-way tussle with PKR’s Abun Sui and SWP’s George Lagong.
It is reliably learnt that Wilson has been recommended by his party to defend Hulu Rajang come GE14.
With Masing as the long-time incumbent in Baleh, one of Hulu Rajang’s three state seats, and his strong base in the area, it will be an uphill battle for any opposition party to go against BN/PRS and the incumbent MP.
The electorate consists of 8,200 Orang Ulu voters as well as the 11,400 Iban. The 2% Malay/Melanau and 1% Chinese complete the 21,686-strong electorate.