Council of Professors fellow Jeniri Amir and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak’s (Unimas) Dick Lembang Dugun both said Sng’s habitual changing of parties meant political sentiment on the ground in Julau has now shifted to Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president Joseph Salang Gandum.
Salang was a former four-term Julau MP, holding the seat from 1999 to 2018. Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) president Sng, meanwhile, held the seat from 2018 until Parliament was dissolved on Oct 10.
In GE14, Sng, who was an independent candidate, won the Julau seat after beating Salang with a majority of 1,931 votes.
“Sng’s chances are lower (now). Salang has clout and strong influence in Julau, and he has been moving aggressively on the ground since 2018.
“GPS has strong leadership and effective grassroots machinery. Judging by the last state election (in December 2021), I think the political sentiment on the ground has shifted towards Salang,” Jeniri said.
The Borneo Post reported last week that Salang was ready to reclaim the Julau seat if given the chance to do so. However, Salang was quoted as saying that the decision depended on Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) chairman Abang Johari Openg.
PRS is part of the ruling GPS coalition in Sarawak alongside Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) and Progressive Democratic Party.
Dugun agreed with Jeniri that Salang has a good shot at reclaiming the Julau seat due to GPS’s strong performance at last December’s state polls – where it grabbed 75 out of the 82 seats contested.
“As for Sng, he is known as a frog. I think it’s not right for him to contest in any seat because he always changes parties. Where are his principles and integrity?” he added.
“Maybe Sng can say PBM supports GPS. In Sarawak, there is a possibility this can happen.”
PBM applied to join Barisan Nasional (BN) in July. Earlier this week, Sng said PBM would be contesting GE15 with its own logo as BN has not accepted the party.
Sng started his political career with the Sarawak Native People’s Party (PBDS) in 2001 and then joined PRS in 2004 after PBDS was deregistered. He was the founding president of then newly-formed Sarawak Workers Party (SWP) in 2013 but quit three years later, going on to contest in GE14 as an independent.
While he joined PKR after Pakatan Harapan (PH) won GE14, he left the party in February 2021 and announced that he would support then prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin and his Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration.
He also threw his support behind Ismail Sabri Yaakob as the prime minister when he took over following Muhyiddin’s resignation in August 2021. Sng and Tebrau MP Steven Choong announced the formation of PBM – which was a rebranding of SWP – in November 2021.