By Nur Ashikin Louis
KUCHING, Aug 6: All Bidayuh-majority State seats and parliamentary seats are now under Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) except one — Mas Gading.
Mas Gading is presently held by Democratic Action Party (DAP) MP Mordi Bimol, who won the seat in the 2018 General Election in a straight fight against Dato Anthony Nogeh Gumbek of Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) with a 3,024-vote majority.
The seat is one of the three Bidayuh parliamentary seats, with the other two being Serian held by Dato Sri Richard Riot Jaem of Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) and Puncak Borneo held by Datuk Willie Mongin, who had just jumped ship from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) to GPS’ component party Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB).
Meanwhile, the Bidayuh-majority State seats are Opar, Tasik Biru, Serembu, Mambong, Tarat, Tebedu, Kedup, and Bukit Semuja.
Political analyst Dato Peter Minos said it is for the best that more Bidayuh are coming into a Bumiputera-based party like GPS.
“The Bidayuh have been politically divided since the formation of Malaysia, which has weakened the community in all aspects, given that they are a small and economically weak community.
“They must be politically united in a government-based party to play a meaningful role in their lives. If divided and not in government, this will be a disaster to them,” he said in a statement today.
Minos further said that he believed the last Bidayuh seat, Mas Gading, will most likely be returned to GPS in the coming 15th General Election (GE15).
At the same time, he commented that some voters in the Puncak Borneo seat might not support Willie Mongin’s move to join PBB, but he said the overriding factor is for all Bidayuh MPs and assemblymen to be in GPS and, thus, in the government. — DayakDaily
