He said the decision to change seats was part of DAP’s election strategy.

The claim of running away was just propaganda from SUPP (Sarawak United People’s Party), he said. “When I moved from Bandar Kuching to Stampin in the 2018 elections (as MP), they too claimed I was running away because I was afraid to face voters in Bandar Kuching.”

Gabungan Parti Sarawak candidate for Kota Sentosa, Wilfred Yap Yau Sin, had reportedly accused Chong of “running away” as he had failed to serve the people, particularly during the 22 months he was a federal deputy minister.

Chong is seeking election in Padungan. He said his GPS rival Wee Hong Seng, who is also the mayor of Kuching, was a very strong challenger and the battle for Padungan would not be an easy one, as Wee had strong support.

“At the same time, there are so many opposition parties, which will lead to a split in votes. One consolation is that some members of the opposition were from Barisan Nasional, so this could end up pulling away votes from the party too.”

Chong said votes for Wee would be “wasted” as he could already resolve the people’s issues as mayor. “He already has the platform to bring the people’s voices to the state government. There is no added value to him being an assemblyman,” he said.

Padungan will see a four-cornered fight between Chong, Wee, Lina Soo of Sarawak People’s Aspiration Party (Aspirasi) and Raymond Thong of Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK).

Sarawak goes to the polls on Dec 18, with early voting on Dec 14.