Bandar Kuching, the Chinese premier seat in the heart of the state capital, will be a straight fight between DAP's incumbent Chong Chieng Jen and BN-Supp's new face Alan Sim ( photo, below ).

sarawak stampin nomination 240208 alan sim banner State PKR chief and state assemblyperson for Padungan Dominique Ng decided to stay away from the contest at the last minute "out of respect for the principle of the gentleman agreement" reached by national DAP and PKR leaders.

Chong, also the state assemblyperson for Kota Sentosa, is defending the seat he won for the first time in the last parliamentary election.

According to political observers, a three-cornered fight will jeopardise the incumbent's chances of retaining the predominantly-Chinese seat with more than 51,000 registered voters.

bandar kuchiing nomination day 240208 bn supporters In the adjoining Stampin parliamentary seat, however, the fight will be between the BN-Supp's incumbent and Works Ministry parliamentary secretary Yong Khoo Seng, DAP's Voon Lee Shan, also the state assemblyperson for Batu Lintang, and PKR's newcomer See Chee How.

Ng told Malaysiakini it was unfortunate that DAP had fielded a candidate in Stampin, the largest of the seven Chinese-majority seats in Sarawak with more than 60,000 registered voters, inspite of there being an earlier agreement between the two opposition parties.

Bewteen tired faces and a fresh one

sarawak stampin nomination 240208 ng see hafsah A political analyst said PKR's gesture not to go down to Bandar Kuching and spoil the DAP incumbent's chances could turn the neighbouring contest in Stampin into a fight between BN's Yong and PKR's See ( photo, middle ), who is well-known as a social activist among the local Chinese and bumiputera voters.

"It's also seen as battle between old tired faces and a few face," he added.

Meanwhile, the Barisan Nasional won four seats unopposed today when nominations closed for the 31 parliamentary seats in Sarawak.

The candidates who won uncontested are newcomer Norah Tun Abdul Rahman Yakub (Tanjung Manis) of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Joseph Entulu (Selangau) of Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), Aaron Dagang (Kanowit) of PRS and Alexander Nanta Linggi (Kapit) of PBB.

Sarawak holds separate parliamentary elections. The last state election was held in May 2006.

In the last parliamentary elections, six BN candidates were returned unopposed.

With the four seats uncontested, the remaining 27 seats will be contested by BN, Snap, DAP, PKR, PAS and Independents, many in straight fights, some three-cornered and one five-cornered fights.