Abdul Karim confident BN will win Balingian

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KUCHING: A supreme council member of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah is confident that Barisan Nasional (BN) will win the Balingian by-election.

However, he pointed out that whether it would win with a bigger or reduced majority did not matter.

“BN will win the seat…and on whether the majority will increase or decrease is not too important, what is important is that the election process is done smoothly and BN wins the seat,” Abdul Karim, who is Assistant Youth Development Minister, said in his text message.

Abdul Karim did not dwell further on the candidate, except to say that the candidate is a Melanau Christian and his name will be announced by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin tomorrow.

At least five names – Adrian Langi Dorhat Alphonsus, Yussibnosh Balo, Akit Sebli, Dr Anthony Valentine Laiseh and Paul Druce – have been bandied about as the potential candidate.

The seat fell vacant following the resignation of incumbent Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud on Feb 28 to take up his appointment as the state’s seventh Yang di-Pertua Negeri on March 1.

Nomination day is on March 17 and polling will be on March 29, in the event of a contest.