PSB chief Soon Koh to make parliamentary election debut

Veteran Sarawakian politician Wong Soon Koh, 80, will be making his parliamentary election debut.

The Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) president today confirmed that he will be fielded in Sibu, adding that he was fulfilling the wishes of his party.

Sibu has long been a Sarawak BN stronghold until 2010 when the seat was lost to DAP’s Wong Ho Leng in a by-election. DAP has held the seat since.

Wong has been a seven-term state assemblyperson for Bawang Assan, a state assembly constituency adjacent to Sibu.

Sibu was one of eight seats which PSB was vying for during the upcoming parliamentary election.

So far, PSB has confirmed that it will be fielding candidates for Lubok Antu, Sri Aman, Miri, Serian, Lawas and is looking for two more.

“(PSB is going for) Six to eight seats so far. We want to conserve our resources in seats which we think are more winnable,” said Wong, according to Borneo Post.

Wong said PSB was no longer negotiating with DAP because the latter made it clear that all seats won by DAP in 2018 were non-negotiable.

“So, there is no more talk between us because they say all incumbent seats are non-negotiable. All we ask for is for them to give us one or two urban seats, but they said they cannot because all their incumbent seats are non-negotiable.

“And they told me, they told my party to go to the rural areas (to contest). Ours (PSB) is a multi-racial party, we need to go to, of course, the Dayak areas, Orang Ulu, Bidayuh, and so on.

“But we also need some urban seats, which are more Chinese (majority) seats. But to them, non-negotiable. So, that is the end of our negotiation. No more, full stop. Anyway, they (DAP) have already announced (their candidates),” Wong said.

So far, Sibu and Serian are the only seats likely to see a clash between PSB and DAP.

Wong has a long and prolific career as a Sarawakian politician, having held various state cabinet portfolios and was once considered a close confidante of Sarawakian political figure Taib Mahmud.

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