By Lian Cheng, Jacob Achoi, and Yee Mei
KUCHING, Nov 19: Datuk Willie Mongin has defended P198 Puncak Borneo for Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) with a majority of 13,338 votes in a three-cornered fight in the 15th General Election (GE15).
Willie from Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) polled 29,457 votes against the 16,119 votes obtained by Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s Diog Dios and 5,578 votes of Parti Sarawak Bersatu’s Iana Akam.
There are 79,969 eligible voters in Puncak Borneo, an increase of 33,789 from the last general election.
Of the total, 5,227 are voters between the ages of 18 and 20 after the Undi18 Bill was gazetted on Dec 1 last year.
Voter turnout was 65.09 per cent.
The result was announced by Returning Officer Ranum Bari around 10.50pm at the counting centre at SMK Siburan.
In the 2018 election, Willie, who contested under Pakatan Harapan, won with a 4,005 majority after he defeated the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate.
P198 Puncak Borneo, which is a predominantly Bidayuh constituency, has three State constituencies, namely, Serembu, Mambong and Tarat, which are all represented by GPS assemblymen
Speaking to reporters after his victory was announced earlier tonight, Willie thanked the voters for supporting him, saying it will enable him to work with the three GPS assemblymen to bring more development to the area.
The three assemblymen are Datuk Dr Jerip Susil (Mambong), Datuk Roland Sagah Wee Inn (Tarat), and Miro Simuh (Serembu).
Willie also said that his contest for the seat against his two rivals was friendly.
“Although we contest in the seat, we will remain friends forever,” he said.
Meanwhile, when asked if there would be a lot of changes compared to his time in the Opposition now that he is with GPS, he opined that there would be a huge difference.
“There will be a huge difference because now we can work closely with the State government. When we work with the State government, there will be no hindrance because, in the past, we faced a lot of obstacles.
“Now, we are in the same boat and party. Therefore, we can have the same principle to work together for the greater Puncak Borneo,” he said.
Also present was Dr Jerip, who is also Deputy Minister of Transport, community leaders, PBB members and supporters. — DayakDaily
