The quiet Lawas town still waiting for the excitement on nomination day.
The BN-SPDP operations room at the third floor of a shop lot in Lawas town.
MIRI: Former Ba Kelalan assemblyman and PKR chief Baru Bian will face a rematch with BN-SPDP candidate Willie Liau in the constituency of mostly Lun Bawang and Tagal communities during this state election.
Also eyeing the seat are two independent candidates.
In the 2011 polls, Baru garnered 2,505 votes to beat his nephew Willie Liau by a majority of 473 votes.
The drumming of support by BN, PKR and the independent candidates are still yet to be seen because it has been the trend in Lawas in every election for the parties to move at the last minute.
Lawas town was quiet yesterday as most of the constituents who are mainly Christian attended church services or were spending the weekend with their families.
The nomination centre for Ba Kelalan constituency is at Lawas District Office while the centre for Bukit Sari constituency is at Lawas Indoor Stadium.
However, talks in coffeeshops mostly centred on the contesting parties and support for their candidates.
Independent candidates are still keeping a low profile but are expected to be all out to canvas support after the nomination process today.
Willie Liau, when contacted, said they will campaign in earnest after nomination.
He said their operations room and election machinery were already mobilised and party workers were ready for the nomination day.
“We expect to send a strong group of BN supporters to be with me at the nomination centre,” he told The Borneo Post yesterday.
At the same time, he urged the Lun Bawang community in Lawas and Ba Kelalan to be united and vote him in order to have a voice in the government.
Baru Bian could not be reached for comments. However, he recently told the media that he was confident of retaining the Ba Kelalan seat as the people on the ground still supported him.
He also said he would continue to raise Native Customary Rights (NCR) land issues.
In the 2011 polls, Baru drew support with promises of settling NCR land issues, and was aided by the controversy arising from the seizure of Malay-language bibles using the word ‘Allah’.