Baru Bian
MIRI (Dec 6): Ba Kelalan incumbent Baru Bian is counting on voters’ maturity in the five-cornered fight for the seat.
Anticipating an onslaught of issues ranging from political stand to track record as the former Works Minister against him, he remained optimistic that constituents will be able to discern and prove their wisdom and maturity in the 12th Sarawak Election.
“Many had felt that Baru Bian would lose (in the 2016 election) but we won with an increased majority, which was encouraging and shows the maturity of voters on the issues raised in DUN (State Legislative Assembly) and in Parliament (as Selangau MP),” he said in a press conference at his election operations room in Lawas.
His results in the last election raised eyebrows as he was the only member of the Opposition to return with increased majority as it struggled to stem the popular support of Barisan Nasional (BN) and the late Pehin Sri Datuk Patinggi Adenan Satem, otherwise fondly known as ‘Tok Nan’.
He was the only Opposition assemblyman to win with a bigger majority in the 2016 election, where others expected him to lose against BN-SPDP candidate Willie Liau with his majority going to 538 votes from 2011’s 453 votes against the same opponent.
Under the PSB ticket in this election, observers believe that he has the upper hand with his experienced election machinery intact with even better resources and support from a Sarawak-based party.
Baru, who was a Native Customary Rights land activist lawyer before jumping into politics, said that he turned down the offer by Tok Nan to join BN in 2015 due to his conviction that lagging development and native land rights issues in his constituency had yet to be resolved by the state government.
Thus, he prays that Ba Kelalan voters will choose their elected representative wisely on polling day, slated on Dec 18, and allow him to continue his struggle through Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB).
Meanwhile, his main rival Sam Laya from Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) in a statement after filing his nomination said that he respected all Ba Kelalan candidates.
Sam Laya
The new face said that each candidate has their own advantages in Ba Kelalan and expressed his hopes that constituents can put the past behind them and move forward to a brighter future.
“Let us forget about what happened in the past like hurling accusations at each other. The important thing is that we unite under a party that can bring development and progress in Ba Kelalan,” he said.
The other three candidates in this five-cornered fight are Peter Asut from Parti Bumi Kenyalang; Martin Labo of Parti Keadilan Rakyat; and Independent candidate Agnes Padan.