Well-known Iban leader Nicholas Bawin will head the new PKR division in Lubok Antu after its official launching by the party’s de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim next Saturday.

According to Sarawak PKR chief Dominique Ng, about 5,000 people from Lubok Antu and its surrounding constituencies will attend the launching which is part of the party’s preparations for the next state election due in three years’ time.

Bawin is the former Majlis Adat Istiadat deputy chairperson and former Sarawak National Dayak Union (SNDU) president. He contested as an Independent in Lubok Antu in the March poll but was defeated.

Bawin is also the pro-tem president of Malaysian Dayak Congress, a party which has been unsuccessful in its application for registration over the past three years. With Bawin now in PKR, his supporters are expected to follow suit.

Professionals to lead

The Lubok Antu division will in the interim also look after the party's interests in the neighbouring Sri Aman parliamentary constituency, Bawin told reporters at a press conference together with Ng and other party leaders in Kuching this afternoon.

The party is planning to speed up with the launching of its divisions in all the 14 Dayak-based parliamentary constituencies - nine Iban areas, three Bidayuh and two Orang Ulu - and start recruiting members as well as identity potential candidates for the next state election.

So far, PKR has set up divisions in Mas Gading and Mambong and by next week in Lubok Antu while Julau division which has already been set up earlier will be re-organised, Ng said.

anwar ibrahim pc 180208 01 Bawin and several other Dayak professionals will take charge of setting up the divisions.

Anwar's forthcoming visit will also see him meeting with potential new leaders, speaking at a ceramah in Kampung Gita and travelling to Lubok Antu to launch the new division.

At least a thousand people are expected to apply to join the party during the ceremony, Ng said.

He added that Dayak party leaders have already started to travel to different parts of Sarawak to prepare the ground work for the launch of the new divisions.

Six thousand membership forms have been given out, and Bawin said the forms are starting to come back to party headquarters.

“It's a very good sign,” said Ng, adding that Anwar's visit will bolster renewed energy among members as the party plans to build a base in Sarawak ahead of the elections.