MUKAH, March 17 – The Balingian state by-election will see a straight fight between Barisan Nasional (BN) and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).
BN candidate Yussibnosh Balo will be challenged by Abdul Jalil Bujang from PKR to wrest the state seat, which was vacated by Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, when he retired as Sarawak Chief Minister last Feb 28.
Balingian state by-election officer, Shafrie Saili, who announced the contest at about 10.16 am at the Mesra Civic Centre here, said he had received Yussibnosh’s nomination papers at 9.03 am while Abdul Jalil’s nomination papers were submitted at 9.14 am.
Yussibnosh’s nomination was proposed by Ardiman Matan @ Henry and supported by Fauziah Adeni while Abdul Jalil’s nomination was proposed by Matek Geram @ Matek Maxi and supported by Basri Bahari.
Yussibnosh is the former Dalat district officer and Abdul Jalil is a businessman. Meanwhile Election Commission Chairman (EC) Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd told reporters that he was satisfied with the nomination process today.
He said the nomination process was one of the best that was conducted in the country and was confident the situation would continue during the campaign period and polling day.
“There was no untoward incident and supporters from both parties had shown that they respect the lifestyle and values of the local community,” he said.
Abdul Aziz said EC also mobilised three personnel teams to monitor the campaigning activities of the two candidates.Balingian state constituency, which is located in central Sarawak, has 13,366 voters, with the majority being Melanau.
– BERNAMA
