Datuk Dr Tiki Lafe
KUCHING: Sources disclose Mas Gading incumbent preferred over SPDP nominated candidate.
It is now almost certain that Datuk Dr Tiki Lafe will be the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate to defend the Mas Gading parliamentary constituency in the coming general election.
It is also learnt that the incumbent for Mambong, Datuk Dr James Dawos will also be re-nominated.
A well placed source said Dr Tiki and Dawos had been given the nod by state BN chairman Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, to defend their respective seats in the coming polls.
Mas Gading, a predominantly Bidayuh seat, was originally represented by Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) through Dr Tiki who was among five former SPDP leaders who were either sacked or quit the party following an internal squabble.
Other elected representatives in the group, dubbed the G5, include Tasik Biru assemblyman Datuk Peter Nansian, Datuk Sylvester Entri (Marudi), Rosey Yunus (Bekenu) and Paulus Palu Ngumbang (Batu Danau).
They subsequently formed a BN Club to continue serving their respective constituents as BN elected representatives and later submitted their own candidate for Mas Gading.
The group nominated Dr Tiki as their candidate while SPDP proposed a few names of their own but apparently the nominee by the BN Club has the upper hand.
The source did not say which party Dr Tiki would represent this time but it is widely speculated that he is most likely going to be a BN direct candidate.
If this speculation turned out to be true then SPDP would be losing one of its four parliamentary seats even before the polls.
Its other seats are Saratok, Bintulu and Baram.