By Lian Cheng
Will Sarawak Election 2026 see several rural seats uncontested?
This is a highly possible scenario, particularly for rural seats held by Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), the backbone party of the ruling Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) coalition, owing to a lack of strong local opposition and issues.
During the Sarawak Election 2021, out of the total 82 seats, local opposition Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) contested the highest number, fielding candidates in 73 constituencies. Despite considerable efforts and aspirations to challenge the GPS government, the party walked away empty-handed.
When contacted, PBK president Voon Lee Shan stated that the party has yet to decide whether to participate in the upcoming election, citing the lack of inspiration. To him, contesting in the upcoming Sarawak election takes a secondary priority, with their primary objective remaining unchanged: to achieve Sarawak’s independence.
Another local outfit, Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) contested 70 constituencies. As a splinter party originating from within ruling coalition member: Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP), it managed to retain the four seats it held prior to the election.
Incidentally, eight months after the conclusion of Sarawak Election 2021, one of PSB’s elected representatives, Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How left the party to sit as an independent. He later officially joined SUPP on October 27, 2026, just one day after the dissolution of the Sarawak Assembly. A little over two years following the 2021 election, PSB dissolved itself and all three of its remaining assemblymen joined the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), another component party of GPS.
Another local party, the Sarawak People’s Aspiration Party (ASPIRASI), contested 15 seats in 2021, though ultimately without success. When contacted, founding president Lina Soo said she is taking a sabbatical year in the United Kingdom and will not be involved in the 13th Sarawak Election. She has entrusted party matters to ASPIRASI president Buln Patrick Ribos, who noted that the party has yet to decide on the number of seats it intends to contest.
Parti Bangsa Dayak Sarawak Baru (PBDSB), a Bumiputera-majority local party, contested 11 seats; and similar to ASPIRASI, all of its candidates were unsuccessful. Meanwhile, Parti Sedar Rakyat Sarawak which rebranded itself as Parti Wawasan Rakyat (Wawasan) this year, contested five seats and suffered a similar fate to PBDSB.
As local opposition leaders appear preoccupied with matters outside the immediate scope of the Sarawak Election 2026, political parties from Peninsular Malaysia are anticipated to step into the vacuum. However, their outcomes from the 2021 Sarawak election and the shifting political landscape in Peninsular Malaysia may cause them to hesitate and pause for a long while before intervening in Sarawak politics.
Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), a component party of Perikatan Nasional (PN) contested a single seat in 2021: Beting Maro. Despite concentrating its resources and campaigning efforts there, the party failed to break its electoral dead-end. Looking ahead to the upcoming 13th Sarawak Election, PAS has signalled its intention to expand by targeting four seats: Samariang, Sebuyau, Beting Maro, and a fourth yet to be announced. PAS Sarawak commissioner Mohammad Arifiriazul Paijo disclosed that the fourth target seat will be located within either the Bintulu or Sibuti constituency.
The national ruling coalition, Pakatan Harapan (PH), comprising Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah), and the Democratic Action Party (DAP) was the external coalition that contested the highest number of seats, fielding 62 candidates. As expected, the coalition managed to retain only two urban seats: Pending and Padungan, both under the DAP banner. The coalition failed to capture a single seat in rural or semi-rural areas.
Out of the total 82 seats in Sarawak, 64 are rural or semi-rural, while the remaining 18 comprise urban constituencies where Chinese voters form the majority.
For the upcoming election, DAP Sarawak Chairman Chong Chieng Jen announced that the party will contest seven seats in Kuching. This includes the urban seats of Padungan, Pending, Batu Kawah, Batu Kitang, and Kota Sentosa, alongside two semi-urban seats, Tasik Biru and Opar. The number of seats to be contested in other urban centres such as Miri, Sibu, and Bintulu has yet to be determined. The party has also not yet decided whether to stand in Batu Lintang, prompting speculation that DAP may cede the seat to its alliance partner, PKR.
On the side of the ruling coalition, GPS fielded candidates across all 82 seats, securing a landslide victory of 76 seats in the Sarawak Election 2021. Following the transition of four former PSB incumbents: Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh (Bawang Assan), Johnical Rayong (Engkilili), and Baru Bian (Ba’Kelalan) who joined PDP following PSB’s dissolution, alongside See (Batu Lintang) joining SUPP, the ruling coalition effectively held 80 seats just one day after the Sarawak Assembly’s dissolution.
GPS appears to maintain a firm grip on Sarawak’s political landscape. This standing has been further reinforced under GPS chairman Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg, whose administration introduced fair, progressive, and reformative policies alongside infrastructure projects that benefit the people following the Sarawak Election 2021. His administration was so effective that it left the opposition with relatively few issues to leverage against the ruling coalition.
Heading into the 2026 election, with many of Abang Johari’s key initiatives, such as completed bridges and the implementation of the Free Tertiary Education Scheme coming to fruition, he is expected to face a less formidable challenge. Given the scarcity of issues, evidence of an effective administration, and a fractured opposition, GPS is expected to perform even better this upcoming Sarawak Election.
The only battlefield offering any realistic prospect for the opposition remains the 18 urban constituencies, where DAP is expected to campaign heavily on the issue of checks and balances which is almost non-existent following GPS’s near-clean sweep. As for the remaining 64 rural and semi-rural seats, constrained resources will likely prevent most local opposition parties from participating. PAS will contest in four seats as announced; as for PKR, it is expected to contest significantly fewer seats than it did in the previous Sarawak Election, mindful of maintaining political alignment with GPS to maintain its governing position Putrajaya.
This dynamic returns the focus to the opening question: how many rural seats will GPS win uncontested?—DayakDaily
