With nominations just five days away for the Batang Ai by-election in Sarawak, PKR candidate Jawah Gerang is already expressing confidence about his chances of victory in the state seat on April 7.

“I have already covered several longhouses, met the voters there, heard what they have to say and have come away with the good feeling that past support is still intact - and that there is a new wave of support,” he told Malaysiakini by phone from Lubok Antu, about 250km south of Kuching.

“We are working very hard and I am confident we will win.”

He said Nicholas Bawin, the PKR director of elections, is working alongside other members of his group to cover some 150 longhouses in the Batang Ai area by road or river.

jawah gerang Jawah, 55, a Universiti Malaya economics graduate, was a bank officer before he became active in politics at the age of 33.

He won the Lubok Antu parliamentary seat five consecutive times, twice unopposed. On Monday, PKR de facto Anwar Ibrahim had named him for the Batang Ai contest.

Local newspapers today quoted Joseph Entulu, a one-time colleague in the now-defunct Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak and currently Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) deputy president, as saying that Jawah would not be able to bring progress to the people.

joseph entulu Entulu claimed that any development charted in the past was due to the Barisan Nasional (BN) and not to Jawah as an individual.

Jawah took this in stride, countering that - like him - Entulu too has no power to generate development in the state.

“Only (the Chief Minister Abdul) Taib Mahmud and (his deputy) Alfred Jabu have the power in the Sarawak government. Even (PRS president and state Land Development Minister) James Masing has no power in reality,” he said.

Attempt to divide PKR?

There have also been reports that Entulu has been trying to drive a wedge between PKR leaders by calling on Bawin to abandon PKR and join PRS since he was bypassed as a candidate.

nicholas bawin pkr candidate for batang ai state seat 270209 Bawin (left) could not be immediately contacted as he is still in the interior of Batang Ai.

BN candidate Malcolm Mussen Lamoh, 49, has been shying away from publicity, according to a reporter.

Masing recently visited Batang Ai, also to cover as many longhouses as possible.