(From left) Rungka, John, Uggah, Martin and others give their best thumbs-up during a photo call.
SERIAN: Voters in Bukit Semuja have been urged to make this newly created constituency the latest fortress of Barisan Nasional (BN).
PBB senior vice president Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said this can be achieved if the direct BN candidate for this seat, John Ilus, wins this seat come polling day on May 7.
He pointed out there is no reason for BN not to win the seat, since it is made up mostly of areas previously under Kedup which is known as a BN bastion.
“The Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem has chosen John Ilus as the BN candidate here, which makes him a member of Team Adenan for this election.
“So, vote for him because Team Adenan aims to make Sarawak more progressive, not just in terms of physical development like roads and electricity supply and so on, but to improve the livelihood of Sarawakians.
“Come May 7, I hope voters here will show to other parts of Sarawak that Bukit Semuja is the BN’s newest fortress by winning this seat by a big majority,” said Uggah at a function in Kampung Lebor near here.
Uggah, who is also Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister, was officiating at a Smallholders Transformation Programme at the village hall yesterday.
Bukit Semuja, a Bidayuh-majority seat, will see a five-cornered fight between John from BN, Edward Luak from DAP, independent candidate Frederick Bayoi, Johny Bob Aput from STAR and Cobbold John from PBDS Baru.
Uggah also mentioned that DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang had said several times that BN would win this election, which showed the opposition had already conceded defeat.
As such, he called on the voters not to be swayed by opposition’s tactics to influence them to give victory to DAP in Bukit Semuja.
On a related matter, he said the Chief Minister had already made it clear that no independent candidate would be accepted into BN even if he or she wins the seat.
“It’s the same story everywhere – the independent candidate says he or she will join BN if he or she wins. But the Chief Minister had already said they will not be accepted into BN. There will not be back door entry for them,” he said.
Meanwhile, John when asked by reporters said he was unperturbed by the latest ploy made by DAP to paint him in a negative light in Bukit Semuja.
He was referring to a Malay Mail Online report in which DAP’s Steven Sim alleged that John’s photos were nowhere to be seen in BN posters.
He said this was just part of the psychological warfare played by DAP. Sim, who is also Bukit Mertajam MP, is part of the DAP campaign team assisting Edward Luak in Bukit Semuja.
“It is up to them to say anything. For me, I have no comment on
that despite the fact that I have photos of myself put up in the posters.
“I’m new in this political line. There is a lot of psychological warfare put up. I know they are doing this to me, but I stay put on the ground and concentrate on my tasks,” he said.
He also mentioned that he was deeply thankful to the Chief Minister for choosing him as the direct BN candidate although there were many others aspiring for the candidacy.
“I now shoulder huge responsibility to repay his confidence to deliver this seat for BN. I am confident of achieving this with the support of BN supporters here.
“Our manifesto here is to continue the development planned for Serian which was elevated from a district to division. The creation of Serian Division is one of the 53 initiatives by the Chief Minister,” he said.
BN candidate for Kedup, Martin Ben, called on the constituents to support John in the same way they elected him to his first term as their assemblyman five years ago when the area was under Kedup.
During the function, Uggah announced an allocation of RM300,000 to upgrade the farm road which was requested by Penghulu Rungka Jimbai.