GE14 | Sarawak PKR chairperson Baru Bian said it is up to the voters in Selangau to decide on his candidacy as a parliamentary candidate in GE14.

“I choose to stand in Selangau as the people there wanted me, and I obliged. So, whether I am accepted in Selangau or not, is up to the voters there to decide, not for Masing,” he told Malaysiakini this morning.

Baru said this in response to Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister James Masing’s “mocking statement” that the PKR leader as an Orang Ulu had failed to make it among his own people in GE13 and would not be seen as a threat in the Iban-majority area of Selangau in GE14.

Masing was quoted as saying this to local news portal Dayak Daily yesterday.

“Baru Bian is trying his luck among the Ibans in Selangau and he is most welcome as this is a free country and anyone can contest wherever they want,” he said.

To this, Baru replied: “I stood in Limbang in GE13 but ‘not among my people’ if Masing was referring to the Lun Bawangs. I stood in Limbang which consists of a mix of Malays, Kedayans, Ibans, Chinese and only a few hundreds of Lun Bawangs. But that was in the past.

“But this is GE14, with new social economic issues and a new political consciousness. I hope today we can move beyond racial and communal politics and look at credible, professional and courageous candidates who will speak for the rakyat."

He said he hopes GE14 will see representatives who will not just remain “mute YBs” who merely tour party lines.

“I believe Selangau voters will rise above racial or communal politics this time around and prove Masing wrong. I thank Masing for his ‘openess’ in welcoming me to contest in Selangau."

Baru made a surprise move to contest in Selangau. It was to accommodate the party’s last-minute request for him to contest there.

He will go up against BN’s new face Rita Insol.

Baru said it would be a challenging fight as Selangau is a large rural constituency with some of its villages accessible only by boat or logging road.