Will PKR’s swap move pay off?
As campaigning gets underway for Sarawak’s 10th state election, all eyes will be on Kuching where PKR made a much-chastised decision to swap its winning seat in Padungan for the less tested Batu Lintang.
Joseph Tawie, Free Malaysia Today
Will independent candidates Dominique Ng and Soo Lina derail DAP and PKR’s journey to wrest Padungan and Batu Lintang constituencies in the April 16 polls?
It’s a question much debated today as both candidates submitted their nomination papers at the Kuching South City Council.
But as hellbent as they are on standing on a “matter of principle”, their opponents simply see them as “irrelevant”.
Said Batu Lintang PKR candidate See Chee How: “To me, an independent is irrelevant in our fight against the Barisan Nasional (BN).”
“The people in Kuching are mostly educated and sophisticated. They are professionals and retired civil servants.
“The question is whether they want to continue with (Chief Minister) Abdul Taib Mahmud’s rule which is riddled with corruption and abuse of power or a new government under Pakatan Rakyat. This is the only question.
“For the last 47 years under BN (with 30 years under Taib), the people’s needs have been neglected and their rights have been taken away from them.”
See faces Soo and BN’s Sih Hua Tong in Batu Lintang which, in 2006, saw DAP’s Voon Lee Shan win by a 3,407-vote majority.
Soo, who is currently Batu Kawah PKR chairperson, however, is optimistic.
“I made my decision to contest in the last 24 hours and offer myself as an independent candidate for the Batu Lintang constituency.
“I was encouraged by many friends and relatives in Batu Lintang. They asked me to contest,” said Soo who expects the party to sack her now that she is contesting in the polls..
Not a BN plant
Soo has denied that she was paid by BN to split the votes.
“No, I am not paid by BN… I chose to contest ,” she said.
The 52-year-old single mother had recently received a showcause letter from PKR after it was made known that she had attended a Sarawak Nasional Party (SNAP) meeting last month.
Said Soo: “The PKR headquarters gave me seven days to reply, but I just ignored it… I was invited so I attended.
“I have no plans to join SNAP.”
Soo, who holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration, has described herself as a full politician.
“I am independent, unlike my rivals who are committed to SUPP or PKR. They have to dance to party tunes. They have to toe the party lines.
“I can be the people’s voice without fear or favour, because my political master is you, the people,” she said.
Soo is aiming for the women voters and is urging them to vote for her so that she “can fight for their rights” because “the male elected representatives” had failed them and their families.
“After 50 years, this is your chance to choose a woman representative as only a woman knows how another woman feels,” she added.
Bad idea
Meawnhile, Ng, the Padungan incumbent, who until recently was the state PKR adviser, is standing on a matter of principle.
Arriving to submit his papers, he was accompanied by a few PKR members and self-professed “staunch supporters” of justice.
Jamili Satung, a retired Hokkien-speaking teacher, who was in Ng’s entourage, said what was done to Ng “was wrong”.
“There is no justification to drop him or swap the seat with Batu Lintang.
“(PKR deputy president) Azmin (Ali) cannot say that Ng did not work. He cannot say that we drop him now so that he can contest in a parliamentary seat later.
“That is rubbish talk. PKR has always lied to us.
