'Jabu to keep low profile in campaign'

The Batang Ai by-election on April 7 promises to be interesting on many fronts for both the Barisan Nasional (BN) and opposition parties.

Deputy Chief Minister and PBB deputy president Alfred Jabu, who considers himself the leader of the Dayaks in government, will take a backseat for the first time in running the election machinery.

The BN supreme council has agreed to the appointment of Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president James Masing as director of operations. He will be assisted by Supp’s Francis Harde, SPDP’s William Mawan and Mong Dagang, who is the PRS state assemblyperson for Bukit Begunan.

A PRS source told Malaysiakini : “Jabu has been told by the CM (chief minister) not to be overzealous. His presence could cost the BN votes.”

Jabu, it is said, has become of something of a liability not only to the CM but also to Dayak party colleagues.

His recent reported comments about peninsula-based opposition politicians - whom he described as outsiders who have failed to respect Dayak customs and who are therefore not welcome to Ibans - have not only embarrassed many members of his community but have also angered them.

Sarawakians, especially the rural Dayaks, are known for their hospitality.

The choice of candidate is of importance to locals, including such details as which longhouse or river - and even whether it is the lower or upper reaches - they are from.

The late Dublin Unting Ingkot, whose death led to the Batang Ai state seat being declared vacant - was from Sebangki Panjai within the constituency.

One suggestion is that it should now be the turn of a candidate from other reaches of the Batang Ai river.

Opposition parties are well aware of the awesome might of the BN machinery and resources. While they will try to cover every one of the 123 longhouses once, if not twice, during the campaign period, they are also counting on the Iban voters’ mood for change to negate the power of money.

Batang Ai will also be the starting point for the opposition front, comprising PKR, DAP and possibly Sarawak National Party, to try and wrest control of the state from the BN in the next elections due at the latest by 2011.

50-50 chance seen

Based on the assessment of various sources, the opposition front has an equal chance of taking the seat if it selects the right candidate.

PKR has yet to announce a candidate, but the choice is likely to be between former Lubok Antu MP Jawah Gerang - regarded as local boy with considerable grassroots support - and Lubok Antu PKR branch chairperson Nicholas Bawin (right) - another local boy and former president of the Sarawak Dayak National Union, but who has lost all three of his election outings to date.

The PKR's apparent procrastination is regarded in certain quarters as not doing the party any good, particularly when the BN is ready to present its man to the electorate.

However, those who in the know claimed that it is a matter of strategy because revealing a candidate too early would not help PKR either.

PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim said in a email response to Malaysiakini : "We must allow for a full discussion before a final decision is made on the candidate."

Vice-president and Gombak MP Azmin Ali is to visit Batang Ai this weekend to get more feedback from the ground.

Local newspapers nearly all seem to suggest that the eventual choice will be Jawah, who had served four terms as Lubok Antu MP and would have contested a fifth term in the last parliamentary elections if the BN had not dropped him as a candidate.

Following this, he supported the faction in PRS led by Larry Sng (left) , son of businessman Sng Chee Hua and son-in-law of Sarawak tycoon Ting Pek Khiing, and subsequently left the party to join PKR.

The Sarawak BN allowed Masing to propose a candidate from his party. Over the weekend, the supreme council endorsed the choice of Malcolm Mussen Anak Penghulu Lamoh, 49, subject to approval by BN head and premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Masing was so confident his party’s choice would be accepted that he had submitted only one name to the state BN chairperson and even notified the prime minister and deputy of his choice.

He also lost little time in revealing the name of the candidate, even though state BN head Abdul Taib Mahmud (right) only confirmed to the media that the PRS choice had been endorsed, without revealing the name.

Mussen, a senior engineer with the Department of Agriculture, is a member of the Dayak Chamber of Commerce and Industry.