Dr Michael Teo
MIRI: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Miri is facing an uphill battle for Senadin in the coming 10th Sarawak election.
PKR candidate Dr Michael Teo complained about being shut out of some villages in Senadin where he is contesting.
“We were stopped from entering some villages in Senadin,” said PKR Miri candidate Dr Michael Teo at the press conference in Senadin Operation Room here on Tuesday.
There are a total of 22,432 registered voters in Senadin with the ethnic breakdown consisting of 11,152 Chinese, 6,218 Malays, 5,008 Dayaks, and 54 others.
“There are also a thousand over postal votes for Senadin, which makes it even more difficult for me,” said Dr Teo who is facing Senadin incumbent Datuk Lee Kim Shin.
Lee obtained 7,173 votes in the 2006 election to defeat Chai Chook Fui of PKR by a majority of 4,799.
As gynaecologist with his own practise in town, he was inspired by what he saw as injustice through the hardships of squatters in Miri, and joined PKR to contest in Senadin against Lee in 2001 but lost.
He skipped the 2006 election, but then contested the Sibuti Parliament in 2008 which he lost to Ahmad Lai.
As the underdog, he placed his chances of winning at 40 per cent, and to overcome the unfavourable odds, he would have to capture more Chinese and Dayak support.
However, he saw a silver lining in the encouraging response to the evening talks organised by Pakatan Rakyat (PR).
“Our PR supporters and I will have to work extra hard to try and get our message across to the voters,” he added.