SIBU: Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Vice President Datuk Dr Annuar Rapaee does not want the loss of Sibu parliamentary seat to be a “tradition” for the party concerned and the ruling coalition.
The Nangka assemblyman said that the candidates of the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) component parties that contested under the Barisan Nasional (BN) were defeated three consecutive times.
Dr Annuar noted that it happened during the 2010 by-elections, GE13 and GE14.
“This time we have a bright chance to win the seat judging by our performance in the last 12th state election.
“Nangka is important to win for the Sibu parliamentary seat. In the state election, we had a majority of more than 10,000 votes.
“If all are combined (votes from the Pelawan and Bawang Assan state seats), we may have a good chance of winning the Sibu seat this time,” he said at a press conference after chairing the PBB Nangka meeting at the MUC Hall last night.
Touching on the PBB Nangka preparation for GE-15, Dr Annuar, who is also the Deputy Minister of Education, Innovation and Talent Development, insisted that their election machinery is ready to help the Sibu parliamentary candidate.
“Therefore, we hope that the candidate will be announced as soon as possible to make it easy for us to ‘sell’ the candidate for GE15.
“We don’t care if the candidate is from PBB, Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) or Sarawak People’s Party (PRS), but the candidate must be a candidate who can win,” he said.
Dr Annuar also noted that the selection of candidates for the Sibu Parliament seat is very important because now voters are more inclined to choose candidates who have always served and are not just good at talking.
“A candidate who can serve does not mean a candidate who can only bark (words). Yes, of course being good at speaking is important, but it is more important if you can serve the people in Sibu.
“To solve the flood problem as well as the problem of traffic congestion, we want a candidate who can work. So, it is useless if we choose a candidate who is only good at talking.
“For that reason, I recommend just focusing on local issues. Forget national issues that will not benefit us much,” he said.
Regarding the preparation for the GE15, Dr Annuar noted that PBB Nangka machinery has been activated, but some aspects need to be improved as this time the election is different from the last state election.
“Now everything is open. So, we have to campaign using both traditional (house-to-house campaign) and new ways (social media). Either way, we are ready and going to make sure GPS win,” he said.
