SARAWAK DAP unveiled 18 of its 26 candidates for the upcoming state elections with 11 of them being new faces.

Its Tanjung Batu incumbent, Chiew Chiu Sing, was dropped from the line-up.

Its state chairman Chong Chieng Jen withheld the names of six candidates in seats in and around Kuching “for strategic reasons” and two in Sibu, as part of a move to strike an electoral arrangement with Parti Sarawak Bersatu.

The six Kuching seats are Pending, Padungan, Kota Sentosa, Batu Kawa, Batu Kitang and Stakan.

DAP has seven seats in the outgoing legislative assembly.

“We want to see what SUPP is doing,” Chong said in reference to the party’s main challenger in the fight for Chinese votes, the Sarawak United Peoples’ Party.

SUPP is a component party of the ruling Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS).

“We want to see who they are fielding and then make adjustments accordingly.”

With the possibility of candidates being shifted from their original allocated seats, Chong, the three-term assemblyman for Kota Sentosa, said there is even a possibility he could be moved to contest in Batu Kawa whose incumbent is Dr Sim Kui Hian, the SUPP president.

Apart from Kota Sentosa, DAP held Pending (Violet Yong) and Padungan (Wong King Wei) prior to the dissolution. Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu held Stakan.

Wong is not defending his Padungan seat as he had resigned from the party after a fallout with Chong.

On the two Sibu area seats – Dudong and Bawang Assan – Chong said he has not given up hope yet on reaching an electoral agreement with PSB.

There were talks earlier with both sides not able to reach a consensus.

The failure was followed by a flurry of statements from both sides with political analyst James Chin saying the deep-seated resentment both Chong and PSB president Wong Sook Koh have for each other is making an agreement difficult.

Wong, when he was a minister in the state cabinet for 14 years, was the focal point of attacks from Chong and his DAP colleagues.

“The door is still open to finding a solution,” Chong told reporters during a press conference at the party’s headquarters in Padungan today.

He said by not naming candidates to the two seats “shows our sincerity to cooperate and work to fight GPS”.

He would not give a deadline for the talks but said he still needed a reasonable amount of time to name his candidates should the talks again fail.

On Chiew Chiu Sing not defending the Tanjung Batu seat he had held for three terms, Chong said the former merely “retired from standing”.

“I would not say he retired from politics because politicians never do.

“He’s merely stepping back from the front line.”

Chiew’s son, Tony, is being fielded to take over and defend the seat.

Irene Chang, the incumbent for Bukit Assek will again defend her seat, and so will Sarawak DAP deputy president David Wong Kee Woan in his Pelawan seat where he won for the first time in 2011.

Leon Jimat Donald is being fielded for the third time to wrest the seat from five-term SUPP assemblyman Francis Harden Hollis.

The list:

N2 Tasik Biru – Granda Aing

N19 Mambong – Chang Hong Siong

N22 Kedup – Laerry

N23 Bukit Semuja – Brolin Nicholsion Benedict Achung

N32 Simanggang – Leon Jimat Donald

N45 Repok – Philip Wong Pak Min

N46 Meradong – Yong Siew Wei

N51 Bukit Assek – Irene Mary Chang Oi Ling

N54 Pelawan – David Wong Kee Woan

N61 Pelagus – Solomon Kumbong

N63 Bukit Goram – Joseph Jinggut

N64 Baleh – Kenneth Lagong

N68 Tg Batu – Tony Chiew

N69 Kemena – John Bryan

N70 Samalaju – Tonny Ung

N73 Piasau – Peter Hee Leh Keng

N74 Pujut – Alan Ling Sie Kiong

N75 Senadin – Marcus Hugo. – November 26, 2021.