PBB may see five new faces in coming polls

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KUCHING: If rumours are to be believed, as many as five new faces are to contest as Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) candidates under the Barisan Nasional (BN) ticket in the coming general election.

According to a source, Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism Datuk Rohani Abdul Karim was expected to give way to a new face should her physical condition not improve.

He claimed the deputy minister was plagued by knee problems.

“Although she is regarded by some as popular in her constituency of Batang Lupar, her knees might not permit her to be as active as before.

“Thus, the only solution for her is to step aside to allow a new person to take over the helm in the constituency, for the sake of BN,” he said.

The source also disclosed that Santubong MP Datuk Wan Junaidi Wan Jaafar was also one of the potential candidates to be dropped.

“No doubt he has performed very well as a deputy Speaker in Parliament. However, some feel that five terms as a MP is very long for him,” he said, adding that Batang Sadong MP Nancy Shukri’s position was also seen
as untenable.

When pointed out that Nancy had only been in the constituency for one term, the source said the mood of constituents was not that favourable towards her.

“It is not easy to win the hearts and minds of the constituents despite the fact that they are strong supporters of the party. Each constituency has its own uniqueness which we have to acknowledge in order to win or retain the seat,” he said, adding there are some issues which Nancy had to address for a better chance to be retained as candidate.

On the Kota Samarahan constituency, he  said it was an open secret that a new face would  replace incumbent Dato Sri Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Taib.

“The question is not whether or not the incumbent is to be retained but who is the new face to be fielded there,” the source said.

He also disclosed that Mukah constituency was expected to have a new face to replace Dato Sri Dr Mohd Leo Michael Toyad.

He said it was not possible for Dr Leo to get himself retained as candidate in the coming general election as the tide on the ground was against him.

PBB has 14 parliament seats out of 31 in the state.