MUKAH, March 16 — The by-election for the Balingian state seat, which fell vacant following the stepping down of Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud as Sarawak’s Chief Minister on Feb 28, is likely to be a straight fight between the Barisan Nasional (BN) and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).
The by-election is set to kickstart tommorrow beginning with the nomination process for candidates vying for the vacant Melanau-majority Balingian state seat.
Sarawak Election Commission Director Datuk Takun Sunggah said candidates intending to submit their nomination forms should come early together with the RM5,000 deposit, a proposer and a seconder at the Dewan Suarah Mesra, Mukah tomorrow with the nomination period starting from 9 to 10 in the morning.
“We expect it will be a smooth affair tomorrow and hopefully the candidates contesting for the seat can be announced shortly after the closing of the nominations,” he told Bernama today.
Takun said supporters of the candidates were advised to follow the instruction of the police to avoid untoward incidents which were unlikely in view of the maturity of the supporters here.
Sarawak’s Minister of Special Functions Tan Sri Adenan Satem was sworn in as Sarawak’s fifth chief minister to succeed Abdul Taib.
Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced former Dalat District Officer Yossibnosh Balo, 47, as the BN candidate for the Balingian by-election.
In the 2011 state election, Abdul Taib retained the seat in a three-cornered fight by beating Suriati Abdullah (PKR) and Datuk Salleh Jafaruddin (Independent) with a majority of 5,154 votes.
Balingian has a total of 13,366 registered voters with Melanau/Malays forming the majority with 7,705 voters or 57.65 percent, Iban 3,875 (28.99 percent),Chinese 1,683 voters (12.59 percent), Orang Ulu 29 (0.22 percent) Bidayuh 19 (0.14 percent) and others 55 (0.41 percent).
— BERNAMA
