IF Datuk Masir Kujat intends to defend his seat this time, it will not be as good as the past three terms. Masir, 68 years old, is no longer a ruling party figure as he is now an Independent politician, having announced his exit from Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB). Therefore, if he wants to contest, he has to spend a lot of money from his own pocket.
Masir has been a Member of Parliament for Sri Aman since 2008. Despite being a new candidate introduced by Barisan Nasional (BN) at the time, he did not face many problems in garnering 9,700 votes, defeating the Independent candidate, the late Cobbold Lusoi, who brought home 5,448 votes.
In 2013, the Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) nominated Masir again to defend his seat. Interestingly, at that time, he faced a three-cornered fight, including from Donald Lawan; Datuk Snowdan Lawan’s father, one of the State Assembly Members in his area.
Donald, who is a political veteran, was once the Political Secretary to the Chief Minister, Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud. He ran as an Independent candidate.
During that state election, Masir garnered 12,168 votes, beating the PKR candidate, Nicholas Mujah Ason who brought home 5,618 votes. Donald brought home 3,867 votes while Wilfred Landong (Parti Pekerja Sarawak) only collected 476 votes.
In 2018, Masir collected 14,141 votes and defeated his challenger Norina Umoi Utot from Pakatan Harapan (PH), who only got 8,321 votes.
Cobbold Lusoi, who appeared for the second time representing the new Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS), continued to fail to win the seat when he only collected 538 votes.
Even so, as soon as GE14 ended, Masir’s career as Deputy Minister also ended, when the Federal Government changed and this has put pressure on him.
Not long after that, he announced his exit from the party and joined Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB).
However, after losing the State Election in 2021, he announced his exit from PSB and became an Independent representative.
If Masir still intends to retain his seat, he will face the challenge of PRS Women’s chief, Datuk Seri Doris Sophia Brodie.
Doris, 61, is not a new face in the political field. She was appointed as a Senator before making history as the first female Deputy Speaker of the Dewan Negara in Malaysia. She was appointed to the position on January 26, 2012, after two years as a member of the Dewan Negara.
Her name was also ‘raised’ (dinaikkan) in 2018, but the BN leadership at that time wanted to keep Masir in the seat.
Doris, who was later appointed as the Political Secretary to the Chief Minister of Sarawak, was first ordered to go to the field to court the people of Sri Aman, after Masir decided to leave his original party.
According to Doris, she went on the field every week and was strongly supported by the PRS President at the time, the late Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing.
She did not make any mistake when she performed her duty as a representative of the people. On top of that, she established a good relationship with all the assemblymen in the area, namely Datuk Snow and Lawan in Balai Ringin; Datuk Mong Dagang in Bukit Begunan and Datuk Francis Harden Hollis in Simanggang.
As of yesterday, Masir has not yet decided whether he will defend his position.
However, at this time, it will not be an easy path for Doris. At least she will face a three-cornered fight from PSB candidate Walsin @ Wilson Entabang and PKR candidate Tay Wei Wei.
Wilson is a former senior official of the Sarawak Department of Agriculture who almost defeated Francis Harden in the Simanggang constituency in the last state election.
In the four-cornered fight, Francis obtained 3,954 votes while Wilson, despite his first appearance, brought home 3,779 votes.
PKR also presented a new face candidate, Tay Wei Wei, also known as Naga Libau. Wei Wei is the Deputy Secretary General of the Sarawak PKR Supreme Council, who is also the Head of P202 Sri Aman PKR Branch.
Even so, Doris has an advantage this time because she has been on the field long before, in addition to having the support of all the GPS Assemblymen around her, who won with a strong majority in the last state election.
Interestingly, recently, PKR President Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim went to the field to help Wei Wei at Balai Ringin, but it was not a compelling factor to increase his support.
The advantage for Doris, if she wins, will make her be the first Dayak Member of Parliament in the Dewan Rakyat.
