Nominations begin in Sarawak

BN will contest in all 71 seats while opposition coalition of Pakatan Rakyat, comprising of DAP, PKR and PAS are set to field candidates in 69 seats.

KUCHING: Across Sarawak, political parties started submiting nominations at 9am for their respective candidates.

Leading the pack is ruling Barisan Nasional coalition which holds 63 of the 71 seats in the State Legislative Assembly.

BN will contest in all 71 seats while opposition coalition of Pakatan Rakyat, comprising of DAP, PKR and PAS are set to field candidates in 69 seats.

Also in the ring is the controversy-ridden Sarawak Nasional Party (Snap) which is aiming to contest in 27 seats.

With Snap’s move into the foray, there is unlikely to be one-to-one fights in several Dayak majority constituencies.

Also contesting is Party Cinta Malaysia which is eyeing 10 seats and a host of independents.

Sarawak’s 10th state election is set for April 16 and the Election Commission has allowed for a 10-day campaign period which is poised to be the ‘most heated’ ever in Sarawakian political history.

The BN coalition, which has ruled Sarawak for over four decades, will aim to retain the lion’s share of the seats and prove to the Najib Tun Razak-led federal government that it is still in control of its own fate.

But observers here believe that the opposition will be able to take away at least 20 seats from BN, a more than sufficient number they say to put the ‘fear of hell’ in Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s ruling regime.

Said a political observer last night: “Anything more than 15 seats for the opposition will be enough to send the much needed signal to Taib and Najib.

“We are confident that DAP will take 10 seats, PKR 3 and PAS 2.”

A festive atmosphere

The election fever is only just beginning to climb in Kuching but already there is a marked difference from the election atmosphere in Peninsula Malaysia.

Supporters exchanged the obligatory jibes but they were more playful than vicious in nature. One particularly fiery DAP supporter had to be repeatedly restrained by the police but even this intervention didn’t rile up the crowd.

The police approached with a smile and the supporters broke out in laughter as he put his arm around the man and steered him back behind police lines.

The police remained watchful but exerted none of the heavy-handedness often seen in the peninsular.

As the sun rose higher many supporters retreated beneath the large trees to socialise. If not for the party flags and banners and the police personnel, the atmosphere could at times be almost mistaken as festive than competitive.

Batu Kawah seat

Meanwhile a straight fight is expected to take place in Batu Kawah, BN’s last bastion in the five-seat Kuching where DAP’s youngest candidate for the Sarawak polls, Christina Chew, will take on incumbent, SUPP’s Tan Joo Phoi.

The presence of DAP top gun, secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, for the nomination of its candidate is indicative of Batu Kawah’s importance (pix above).

It is clear that the Penang Chief Minister, popular among the Chinese voters, aims to muster support as DAP and its Pakatan allies embark on a mission to oust BN from Kuching, Sarawak’s capital.

Batu Kawah is the only seat won by the ruling coalition in the 2006 state election as the rest fell into Pakatan’s hands. Three went to the DAP and one to PKR.

While observers and analysts remain divided over the results come April 16, some believe DAP is more than capable of pulling a surprise.

Observation showed that the anti-Taib sentiment is widespread among many of the predominantly Hakka Chinese voters here in Batu Kawah with some expressing “total disillusionment” with SUPP and the present government’s ability to serve their interests.

Rural candidates as ‘independents’

A group of independent candidates are also aiming to contest several seats in the state election.

The independents, calling themselves Parti Ekonomi Rakyat Sarawak Bersatu (PERSB), said their candidates were ready to take on BN and opposition candidates in Sarawak’s rural areas.

In announcing the candidates yesterday, PERSB campaign manager Zurina Amnan said the independents will be fielded in selected constituencies.

Among the constituencies she named were Telang Usan, Belaga, Belawai, Marudi, Balingian, Bukit Bengunan, Daro, Jepak, Kedup, Kemena, Pantai Damai, Sadong, Semop and Tanjung Datu.

She said the candidates were contesting as independents because the Registrar of Societies had not reverted on their application.

“We have been waiting for ROS approval for a year now. We cannot wait anymore so we are fielding our candidates for the elections as independents.

“They will all stand under a common logo which we will reveal today, ” she said.

Zurina said all the candidates were involved in joint ventures with BATC Development Bhd to cultivate jathropha on their lands. It is understood that BATC is financing the independents’ candidacy

“Our focus is on helping the Sarawak people to improve their livelhood and become economically active through jathropha cultivation.

Dominique Ng stands as independent

At the nomination centre for the Padungan state seat, incumbent Dominique Ng showed up to file his papers at about 9.25am. He was standing as an independent after being dropped by PKR to contest this time around.

Padungan was the ony seat won by PKR, through Ng, in 2006. This time around it swapped the seat with DAP, getting Batu Lintang in return. However the party did not grant Ng any seat to contest. Ng yesterday resigned from the party.

In his fight to retain Padungan, he will be facing SUPP’s Sim Kiang Chiok who filed his papers at 9.05am at the Majlis Bandaraya Kuching Selatan (MBKS).

The other candidate for the Padungan seat is DAP’s Wong King Wei.

Ng was accompanied by a few PKR supporters and was greeted by low hisses from the DAP supporters.

The image of the national flower, the hibiscus, was pasted on Ng and his supporters’ shirts. One of them, Jamil Satun, also carried a stalk of the flower.

“We support Dominique even though he resigned from PKR,” he told journalists. “What happened was not right. We won this seat in 2006 and we have been making preparations for this election. How can PKR just give it away like that?”

Holding up the hibiscus, Jamil said it was a national symbol and indicated their desire to go back to basics.

When asked whether he was concerned that Ng would be a spoiler that would result in a BN victory, Jamil said no.

“It would be worse if DAP wins because then we would never have a chance of regaining the seat. If BN wins at least we can try again.”

MBKS is also the nomination centre for Batu Lintang where three-cornered fight is also on the cards.

Candidates for Batu Lintang are See Chee How (PKR), Sih Hua Tong (BN) and Lina Soo (Independent). - FMT