No straight fight likely in Limbang’s Bukit Kota and Batu Danau seats

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LIMBANG: Bukit Kota and Batu Danau, the two Bumiputera-majority seats in Limbang, are unlikely to see straight fights in the coming state election.

Although nomination day is only a week away from now, prospective candidates have to wait a little longer as there are no more nomination forms available for Bukit Kota seat currently.

Bukit Kota Returning Officer (RO) Anyi Ngau said all six nomination forms made available for the seat have been snapped up, and at the moment, he is waiting for the forms to be posted from the state Election Commission (EC) headquarters in Kuching.

As for the rural area, Batu Danau, its RO Stephen Kalong Nanggang said four nomination forms have been sold out.

Talks are rife that the Batu Danau seat may see a three-cornered fight between the Barisan Nasional (BN), Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and Sarawak National Party (SNAP).

In the 2006 state election, the new constituency, which is a Dayak majority seat, was won by BN candidate Palu@Paulus Gumbang in a straight fight with SNAP candidate, Sawan Jiram, with a majority of 1,262 votes.

This year, the number of voters for the state seat increased to 7,636 from 6,889 voters in the 2006 state election.

Meanwhile, Bukit Kota constituency, which was formerly known as Limbang, is expected to see a four-cornered fight between incumbent BN candidate Dr Abdul Rahman Ismail, and candidates from PKR, DAP, and an independent.

In the last state election, Dr Abdul Rahman was involved in a three-cornered fight against two independent candidates and won with a majority of 3,299 votes.

The Malay/Melanau majority seat has recorded an increase in registered voters from 13,328 in 2006 to 14,471 this year.

Dr Abdul Rahman, who is expected to be retained as the BN candidate in the coming election, owns a private clinic in Limbang and is fondly referred to as the “smiling doctor” by locals.

Boosting BN’s confidence in retaining Bukit Kota seat is the decision by 121 DAP members led by DAP Sungai Limbang chairman, Kahar Awang Daud, to quit the party and join Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), the backbone of Sarawak BN.

When approached by Bernama, Dr Abdul Rahman said the defection by former DAP members was a bonus to BN, but he was not expecting an easy ride because the opposition party would use whatever means to gain more support. — Bernama