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BINTULU – Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) leaders are out in force in the Iban longhouses at the Jepak state constituency in Bintulu district in northern Sarawak.
In this last day of campaigning today before polling tomorrow, the GPS ministers and candidate Iskandar Turkee are on their longhouse rounds.
They are making a last minute push into these native residential areas located at the outskirts of Bintulu town.
They are also thronging the longhouses along the riverbanks of Sg Tatau, which are also within the constituency.
GPS’ Jepak election director Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan said the support of longhouse voters is crucial in the effort to secure a huge victory.
“We want the longhouse voters to come out en masse to cast their votes.
“Their votes are crucial in ensuring GPS gets an even bigger majority.
“We want a very big majority,” he said after visiting constituents in the Sg Tatau localities today.
Awang Tengah said that the GPS election machinery had covered all the 14 polling districts and found assurance from voters.
However, the election team also expressed worries that bookies are coming out to get the public to gamble on the result of the by-election.
Two days ago, Awang Tengah said there are already talks that bookies are taking bets.
“There are said to be certain quarters trying to organise bets on the predicted results of the Jepak by-election.
“These sorts of gambling activities on the polling results are making a mockery of the election. It can even affect the outcome of the turnout,” he said.
“We don’t want voters to think that they don’t need to come out in big numbers to vote because GPS is already assured of victory,” he had said when meeting constituents in Kuala Tatau.
Awang Tengah, who is deputy premier and deputy president of Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB), said voters must come out in big numbers to exercise their rights.
The Jepak by-election is seeing a three-cornered fight, with GPS candidate Iskandar Turkee taking on Aspirasi candidate Chieng Lea Phing and Parti Bumi Kenyalang’s Stevenson Sumbang.
The main opposition parties of Pakatan Harapan and Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) were a no-show during nomination.
Aspirasi and PBK are independent opposition parties in Sarawak, formed only less than ten years ago.
Jepak, located within the Bintulu parliamentary seat, has 22,804 registered voters.
Malay-Melanaus comprise 54% of the voters, Ibans 35%, Chinese 6% and the rest are Orang Ulus, Bidayuhs and other minority ethnic voters.
The by-election came about following the September 15 demise of assemblyman Datuk Talib Zulpilip of GPS.
Talib, who was from PBB, was a six-term assemblyman. He last won the seat in the 2021 state election by about 4,500 votes. – The Vibes, November 3, 2023