Pandi Suhaili
KUCHING: Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Youth Wing refutes a claim by the Election Commission (EC) that intense campaigning is expected to take place in Balingian where party president Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud is the incumbent.
Its vice Youth chief Pandi Suhaili said the election commission should go to the ground to verify any report or feedback on the situation in each constituency.
“It is a mistake by the election commission to identify the seat as expected to have intense campaigning,” he said.
He added that EC should not listen and act based on any hearsay or rumours which were aimed to give negative perception about Taib.
On Monday, EC deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar announced that additional enforcement teams would be stationed in nine seats — Pantai Damai, Kota Sentosa, Batu Kawa, Kedup, Repok, Dudong, Pelawan, Nangka and Balingian — to cope with the expected intense campaigning in the constituencies.
The incumbents are Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Junaidi (Pantai Damai), Tan Joo Phoi (Batu Kawa), Frederick Bayoi Manggie (Kedup) — who is not seeking re-election, Datuk David Teng (Repok), Datuk Dr Soon Choon Teck (Dudong), Vincent Goh (Pelawan), Datuk Awang Bemee Awang Ali Basah (Nangka), and Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud (Balingian), while the Democratic Action Party’s (DAP) Chong Chieng Jen is the incumbent for Kota Sentosa.
Wan Ahmad, however, had also pointed out that campaigning intensity did not necessarily mean that the seat would be hotly contested.
Pandi pointed out that the opposition is trying to turn Taib into a hate object by concocting many baseless allegations about him.
“However, as far as the rakyat is concerned, the strategy doesn’t work because the rakyat knows the opposition are doing that because they want to grab the power for themselves,” he said in reference to the breakdown of the seat negotiation process between the opposition parties.
He added those who thought that they could shake the ground in Balingian were actually thinking too highly of themselves.
The vice chief said the opposition should not waste their money and time to come to Balingian to campaign against the incumbent because it would be a fruitless effort.