‘BN conducting solemn and traditional campaign’
LUNDU: Barisan Nasional ( BN) is conducting a solemn and traditional campaign for the Tanjong Datu by- election.
Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club (BNBBC) Sarawak chairman Abdullah Saidol said the campaign for BN candidate Datin Patinggi Datuk Amar Jamilah Anu is restrained because it is still the mourning period for former Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem.
“We are acknowledging that the whole duration of campaign period is still within the mourning time. So we will not be organising entertainment activities such as concerts and so on. The campaign will be done in a solemn and traditional manner,” he told The Borneo Post yesterday.
“We are in kind of a peculiar situation where our campaign methods and strategies will be different from campaigns in other elections. We have to campaign but we cannot use the usual campaign methods.”
He said BN would rely on traditional house-to-house visits involving small groups from the Women’s and Youth wings to campaign for support.
“There will also be meetings of BN leaders with community leaders at coffee shops, as well as evening prayers and gatherings at the mosques,” he said.
Abdullah said although Jamilah could not appear in public to campaign, she is monitoring the campaign from home and her son Azizul Annuar Adenan is moving on the ground on her behalf.
“Azizul will be feeding her with all the crucial information collected from the ground such as the people’s wish list and issues so that Jamilah can seek solutions on how to settle these issues,” he said.
The chief political secretary to the Chief Minister acknowledged there are issues in the area but stressed that these would not affect support for Jamilah.
“There are some issues relating to land. However, the people involved may be critical of government, but they are still in
We are acknowledging that the whole duration of campaign period is still within the mourning time. So we will not be organising entertaining activities such as concerts and so on. The campaign will be done in a solemn and traditional manner. Abdullah Saidol, Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club (BNBBC) Sarawak chairman
support of the BN candidate. What they are upset about is that there is lack of attention on the issues of their concern,” he said.
On the issue involving villagers fromKampungSampadi,Kampung Langeh and Kampung Selingok over 814ha of land, Abdullah said there is disagreement between the villagers and some provisional lease holders.
“Though there are land issues at Sampadi and Sebat, the last state election results show that the voters are still BN supporters. That is why I said land issues here are insignificant to affect votes.
“Anyway, the issue has been brought to the Chief Minister’s attention and it will be solved,” said Abdullah.
He said there will be announcements on approved projects or on- going projects during the campaign period, but stressed these were not approved just because of the by- election.
“I would like to dispel the perception many projects which may be made known during the campaign period are projects approved due to the by- election. That is not true.
“Many projects were planned and approved prior to the byelection. But these projects may be in the stage of planning or finalising stage and have yet to be implemented. With or without the by- election, these projects are going to take off,” he said.