WITHOUT a party and reportedly dwindling support among the electorate and state Barisan Nasional leaders, Saratok MP William Mawan Ikom is facing an increasingly uphill task to hang on to the seat he won in 2013.

Mawan is reported to be desperately seeking the nod and much needed campaign finances to defend this mixed Dayak-Malay constituency on a BN ticket in the 14th general election.

The former president of Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party – now known as the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), one of four parties in the Sarawak BN coalition – won the seat on a BN ticket back when he still helmed the party.

The former Sarawak minister for social development quit the presidency in May 2014 after a bitter leadership feud.

He and his supporters, who include several assemblymen, joined Parti Tenaga Rakyat Sarawak (Teras), an escape vehicle formed a year earlier.

However, to satisfy one of the conditions former chief minister Adenan Satem thrashed out so he could defend his Pakan seat in the 2016 state election as a “direct BN candidate”, Mawan had to resign from Teras.

He has been without a party since, becoming an independent in the state assembly as well as in Parliament.

Mawan won Saratok in a three-way contest, with PKR’s Ali Biju providing the stiffest challenge. The other candidate was Abang Roseli Abang Paleng, a former member of the Election Commission.

Mawan polled 11,600 votes to Biju’s 9,519 to win by a 2,081-vote majority. Abang Roseli garned 681 votes and lost his deposit.

Now, PDP wants this seat of 28,175 voters, of whom 50% are the ethnic Dayak, Malays (45%) and Chinese (5%) and other minority races, back.

A former political secretary to the chief minister, who spoke on condition of anonymity, has no doubt Mawan will be dropped as a BN candidate and the seat will revert back to PDP.

“His position is untenable,” he said, adding this was because he believed Chief Minister and Sarawak BN chairman Abang Johari Openg “will not be able to help Mawan handle Tiong”, a reference to PDP president and Bintulu MP Tiong King Sing.

However, Mawan’s one-man cybertrooper, Audie61, in his blog ‘Fight for the seat after BN wins’, alleged there was collusion among PDP hopefuls “with the enemy”.

The post included an illustration showing a BN fortress atop a hill with Roman-era dressed PKR and PDP soldiers gathered at the foot of the hill.

PDP has been building its case to claim the seat back since 2016, throwing three men into the proverbial ring in a run-off of sorts.

The three are cousins Subeng Mula and Basil Thomas, and a medical doctor, James Chella.

The cousins are reported to be from the oil and gas sector and have been described as “very much unknown”.

Chella, however, is believed to be the frontrunner.

He has been on the campaign trail in the last two years canvassing for support in both the old-fashioned way – by going from longhouse to longhouse, kissing babies and shaking hands – and through more modern channels, such as social media.

Last month, he made clear his intention to run for the seat as a PDP-BN candidate at a gathering in Rumah Ayum Plassu, Nyabor, in Roban.

One of Chella’s campaign aides told The Malaysian Insight that Chella “will get the BN nod”.

“Mawan will not be renominated because PDP, which owns the seat, wants its own candidate,” the aide said.

Even though the 62-year-old Chella practices in Lawas and Sipitang, he is considered a “local” in Saratok, an important criteria as Dayaks tend to vote on blood ties rather than over issues or policies.

An Iban from Sg Sedi in Kabong, he also comes from a prominent family as his grandfather was the first penghulu (chieftain) in Batang Nyabor, and his father was among the first teachers from the area.

The aide said Chella was “leading among lobbyists on ground support”, as shown by all PDP divisions in the three state seats that make up the Saratok constituency – Kabong, Kalaka and Krian – in endorsing him as their candidate.

To reinforce Chella’s position as the leading pick, the aide said the two Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) state assemblymen – Kabong’s Mohamad Chee Kadir and Kalaka’s Wahab Aziz – “support Chella’s nomination”.

PKR is strongly tipped to field Biju, who is the assemblyman for Krian, again.

“Saratok is there for the taking and Ali Biju is the strongest candidate we have at this moment,” Baharuddin Mokhsen, PKR deputy election director for Sarawak, told The Malaysian Insight recently.

“We failed to convince Malay voters in 2013. Like in Baram, we will pour extra resources here to turn things around,” Baharuddin said of the constituency where, because Dayak votes are fragmented, Malay voters are the kingmaker.

Chella’s aides agreed with the assessment.

“In Saratok, BN is strong as long as Malay voters of DUN Kabong and Kalaka still vote for BN.

“Iban voters, as usual, will be split.”

Believing Malay voters will still side with BN, thus ensuring a repeat of the 2013 result, Chella’s aides were close to certain that PKR, or any of their Pakatan Harapan partners, will not field a candidate there.

“They will fail to sway Malay voters away from BN.

“I believe PH will not go for the Saratok seat because their strongest candidate is Ali Biju.

“He tried in the 13th general election at the height of Pakatan Rakyat’s popularity. Still, they didn’t make it.

“Other than Ali Biju, no one is capable enough from the opposition to challenge BN in Saratok.”

The former political secretary to the chief minister, however, disagreed.

“PDP and BN will lose Saratok,” he said.

“Its a zero-sum game for BN.

“Only real ‘paloi’ (idiots) will say BN can win,” he said, adding they should read the “converging indicators” in Saratok.

“There’s a brewing sentiment in Saratok for change – change of MP and party.” – January 20, 2018.