Marcus Kanyong
KUCHING: The date has not been announced, the stage has not been set, but the Sri Aman parliamentary constituency might see a four-cornered fight this 13th general election.
Entrepreneur Marcus Kanyong, 48, is set to make a comeback to the political scene by putting his name up for contest against incumbent MP Masir Kujat of Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS).
With opposition pact Pakatan Rakyat leaving it to the 11th hour before revealing who between potential candidates Nicholas Mujah of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and Leon Jimat Donald of Democratic Action Party (DAP) would be given the nod, the fourth member of the quartet could come from Sarawak Workers Party (SWP) which has signalled its intention to unseat all PRS elected representatives.
"My campaign manifesto is simple — that is to ask the government to actually fulfil its 1Malaysia 'People first, Performance now' slogan. There are many areas in Simanggang (Sri Aman) that have yet to enjoy treated water supply, electricity supply and even proper road infrastructure and these should not be delayed anymore.
"People have grown frustrated due to this lack of utilities and they have approached me to contest, become the better voice of the people," said the father-of-four to The Borneo Post at its office here yesterday.
Marcus, who have started going to the ground the past six months, revealed that response had been overwhelming in Rapak, Kara, Mentu, Kedumpai and Abok among others. He alleged that some of the areas still had poor road infrastructure and lacked basic amenities.
When asked if he would provide a genuine challenge to Barisan Nasional (BN), PKR and DAP which has vast financial strength and political mileage due to their constant presence at the constituency, he simply replied: "The past six months had given me the highest of motivation to give it another try in politics to serve the people.
"To date, I have garnered some 2,000 supporters and I find this very encouraging. I will definitely give them a good run for their money."
He stressed that voters today were mature and more concerned about their community's economic and educational development, which he believed would be his strong point.
If approached, Marcus revealed that he was open to the idea of contesting under the Sarawak Workers Party banner. However, he disclosed that this would depend on the response from the ground.
Marcus stated that he had no personal agenda against the incumbent or BN, saying all he wanted was for the people in his constituency to benefit from the government's new economic model.
"If given the chance, I am confident that I can perform better than the incumbent," he opined.
Marcus contested in the 2001 state polls at Bukit Begunan against Datuk Mong Dagang in a four-cornered fight under the State Reform Party (STAR) banner. He managed to garner 1,793 votes against 4,669 votes obtained by Mong who won by 2,876 votes. Marcus did not lose his deposit.
At that time, two other candidates were in the fray — independent candidates Maxwell Rojis (474 votes) and Lawrence Lendang Ambu (117 votes).
He made the announcement to contest in Sri Aman at a longhouse gathering attended by some 500 people recently.
Category: Local, Sarawak
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