PKR sees Batang Ai polls as barometer of Dayak support

(The Star) – The upcoming Batang Ai by-election will determine the level of support the Dayak community has for PKR and Pakatan Rakyat.

The party’s Padungan assemblyman, Dominique Ng Kim Ho, said this was because the Batang Ai state seat which was under the Lubok Antu parliamentary constituency was the historical entry point of Ibans into the state.

“Winning the Batang Ai by-election will be crucial (for PKR) as a stepping stone into the next state election (due in July 2011),” said Ng.

The Election Commission is expected to announce the by-election’s nomination and polling dates on Wednesday.

The Batang Ai seat fell vacant following the death of its four-term assemblyman, Datuk Dublin Unting, last week.

PKR has in recent months moved aggressively into rural constituencies where most Dayaks of whom the majority are Ibans reside.

It has set up divisions in most of the state’s parliamentary constituencies.

Veteran Ngemah assemblyman Gabriel Adit, who retained the seat as an independent in the 2006 polls, recently led his supporters in joining PKR.

On news reports that the Sarawak National Party (SNAP) was keen to field a candidate in the by-election, Ng said its president, Edwin Dundang, had expressed support for a PKR candidate as it was important for the opposition to have a straight fight with Barisan.

The potential candidates included former Sarawak PKR state deputy chief Nicholas Bawin and former Lubok Antu MP Jawah Gerang.

On the Barisan side, there were speculations that the front-runners were Nelson Naga Alam, nephew and personal assistant to Dublin until his death, and Lubok Antu district officer Nelson Mujah.