‘BN direct candidates must join component party after polls’
Barisan Nasional (BN) direct candidates who have been picked to contest in the coming 11th Sarawak state election are not allowed to use the symbol of their own political party.
Sarawak BN chairperson and Chief Minister Adenan Satem said the BN direct candidates must join any Sarawak BN component if they win the seat they are contesting.
“They (BN direct candidates) only use the BN symbol. They cannot use their party’s symbol then after that they will choose which component party they want to join,” he told reporters in Miri today.
Earlier, Adenan attended a closed-door gathering with more than 2,000 bumiputera voters in Miri.
Adenan, who is president of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), the backbone of the state BN component, said no time frame had been given for BN direct candidates to join any component party but they are given total freedom to pick the party they want to join.
He said BN direct candidates have a legal obligation to join BN as they are required to sign a pledge to abide by BN principles and constitution.
BN component parties comprise PBB, Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP).
Adenan earlier announced that three BN direct candidates would be contesting for the Bawang Assan, Dudong and Bekenu seats.
The candidates are from BN-friendly parties, United People’s Party (UPP) and Sarawak People's Energy Party (Teras) which are splinter groups of SUPP and SPDP respectively.
BN direct candidates is a strategy introduced by Adenan to resolve the bickering among political parties who had refused to compromise on seat allocations and candidacy.
Adenan has not revealed who the BN direct candidates for Bawang Assan and Dudong are.
However, Bawang Assan incumbent and UPP president Wong Soon Koh claimed recently that he had been picked to defend the seat again.
As for the Dudong seat, Tiong Thai King who is UPP Dudong branch chairperson, is widely tipped to be the candidate.
For Bekenu, Adenan made the announcement last night that incumbent and Assistant Minister for Early Childhood Education and Family Development Rosey Yunus from Teras would defend the seat.
A total of 82 state seats will be contested in the 11th state election to be held by June this year.
- Bernama
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