Elderly folk make up most of voters in Balingian — See

KUCHING: A close study of the electoral roll for the Balingian constituency indicates that most of the voters in the constituency are elderly people, state PKR vice- chairman See Chee How said yesterday.

He believed this was compounded by the fact that few young people registered themselves as voters, adding high unemployment in the constituency has led to brain drain of the young, resulting in an electoral roll full of elderly voters.

“Most young men and women rather seek greener pastures elsewhere as there were not many options for them in their hometown.

“Most of the young people have moved out of Balingian and Mukah after finishing their studies.

“There is not much that the young people can do there. The unemployment rate is very high,” See claimed.

He said the oil palm industry employed mostly Indonesians and another big company there hired workers from Bangladesh, India, China and Myanmar.

“The most common job for the locals is security guards,” said See who is PKR’s Balingian byelection director.

Meanwhile, PBB vicepresident Datuk Julaihi Narawi said fielding a local candidate who subscribed to the wishes and aspirations of the local people will bolster BN’s chance in the upcoming Balingian byelection.

He said fielding a local candidate was a pull factor to garner people’s support.

“People like a local candidate. In this case the candidate is a Melanau Christian.

“That is what the locals want. We are very confident of a win because Balingian is our stronghold. We will go all out to maintain the strong grip on the seat and also the majority.

“We hope to get a bigger majority this time because Balingian is already our stronghold. We must work harder though, “said Julaihi, who is also Assistant Minister of Industrial Development ( Investment and Promotion).

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is expected to announce the candidate in Mukah tomorrow.

The nomination day for the by- election is Mar 17 while polling is set for Mar 29.

In the 10th state election Taib won Balingian with a majority of 5,154 votes.

He garnered 6,210 votes in a three- cornered fight against Independent candidate Datuk Salleh Jafaruddin who polled 1,056 votes while PKR first timer Suriati Abdullah, 871 votes.

Balingian has 13,366 registered voters.

Compared to the 2011 state election, Melanau/Malay voters eligible to vote for the March 29 Balingian by- election has dropped slightly from 68.63 to 67.33 per cent, while Chinese voters have increased slightly from 12.80 to 13.65 per cent.

There is also a slight increase in Iban voters - from 18.55 to 19.02 per cent.

Woman voters make up 51 per cent.

Generally, it is believed that Barisan Nasional will retain the seat, despite the candidate no longer the former chief minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud.

The constituency has been a stronghold of BN component Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu ( PBB).

The challenge for PBB now is to ‘win it big’.

There are 13,366 registered voters in the constituency, 13,233 of whom are normal voters while 133 are early voters who will cast their votes on March 25.