The Sibu parliamentary by-election will be fought along two very different lines as Pakatan Rakyat and the Barisan Nasional make their final preparations ahead of nomination day tomorrow.

azlan While campaigning can only start after the official candidates are announced at noon tomorrow at the latest, the competing sides have set clearly different manifestos to push their cases.

The choice for the 55,000-strong Sibu electorate will be this - stick with the status quo with the promise of continued development or take a gamble with the potential of becoming the beacon for change for Sarawak and the rest of the country.

Pakatan, placing their bets on their candidate DAP Sarawak chief Wong Ho Leng, are hoping Sibu voters will look beyond local issues and embrace the challenge of tackling national issues.

DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang said the Sibu by-election was of ‘triple importance’ as he said it will have a direct bearing on the future of Sibu, Sarawak and the nation.

kuala terengganu by election pakatan ceramah perdana 060109 lim kit siang "This is the battle of the century in Sarawak. Even the prime minister (Najib Razak) came here earlier than we did to campaign," he said when met earlier today.

Lim ( left ) focussed his attacks on the alleged wrongdoings of the federal government citing recent issues such as the fatal shooting of 14-year-old Aminulrasyid Amzah and the Teoh Beng Hock case.

DAP’s election propaganda also highlighted similar issues but special mention went to Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud who was nicknamed ‘White Hair’ and accused of avarice that has cast Sarawak down among the poorest states in Malaysia despite being one of the most resource-rich.

‘Government won’t change’

On the other side of the coin, BN's focus was its promise to provide the rakyat with continued development as they have done all this while, said SUPP president George Chan Hong Nam.

Chan, who is also Sarawak deputy chief minister, refuted Lim's claim that the outcome of the Sibu by-election may cast a shadow over the BN-led state and federal governments.

george chan hong nam "The most important thing to first consider t is that it is a by-election and regardless of the outcome, it will not change the state or federal government," he said when met this evening.

Chan ( right ), whose party is putting up Robert Lau Hui Yew up for the contest, claimed that they have done nearly all that is needed to fulfil the needs and wants of the rakyat pointing out that this can only continue with BN.

"Most of the issues here have been addressed from roads, to colleges and Chinese education. All these issues have been identified and have been dealt with by the federal and state governments.

"The people want development and that needs an agent to deliver, and only the BN can do that," he said while going through some campaign material which will be distributed from tomorrow onwards.

Nomination will be held at Dewan Suarah located at the fringe of Sibu town. Prospective candidates will have one hour from nine in the morning to file their nomination papers and the final list of candidates is expected to be announced by noon at the latest.