LUBOK ANTU, Marach 27(Bernama)-- If one visits Lubok Antu town now, it pays to stay on the right side of the law because this rustic border town is swarming with cops, in plain clothes and uniforms.An informed source said there are about 800 of the men in blue all over the place.There are also many civil servants coming from all over the state and an unusually strong media presence here, all for just one thing -- the Batang Ai state by-election.The tussle for the seat is expected to be between the Barisan Nasional, through its component, Parti Rakyat Sarawak(PRS), and the opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) although an independent is also keen to join the fray.Nomination is on Sunday and polling on April 7 should there be a contest but the PKR campaigners have yet to make their presence felt.For now, the BN is in control, its members crisscrossing the 1,341 sq km of Batang Ai, a constituency of 22,270 people but only 8006 of whom are registered voters, a figure confirmed yesterday by the Election Commission.The BN is counting on Malcolm Mussem Lamoh, 49, an engineer, to defend the seat and deliver it as "a gift form the state Iban community to Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, the new Umno president and eventually the new prime minister."PKR, which is making its debut in this Dayak-majority seat, is banking on veteran and one of the most vocal Iban politicians, Jawah Gerang, 56, a five-term former BN parliamentarian, to deliver.The independent who has expressed his intention to contest is Johnny Chuat, an Iban portal owner and part-time Iban education activist.An interesting part of the campaigning now is through the Internet where a dozen or more weblogs are dedicated to the cause.On the ground, if there is one overwhelming issue from PKR, it is the need to change the current government.Its "Give Change A Chance" slogan is contagious, especially among the younger voters. The current state government has been said to be unsympathetic to the Ibans in terms of its land policy and education and civil service opportunities while current Iban leaders in the cabinet are demonised to be ineffective lackeys.A PKR source said its machinery was just warming up with Jawah at the helm, assisted by Lubok Antu PKR division chairman Nicholas Bawin.Carrying the flag for the BN are PRS president Datuk Sri Dr James Jemut Masing, his deputy Datuk Joseph Entulu Belaun, information chief Datuk Joseph Salang and Lubok Antu MP William Nyalau.So far, Mussem has been a silent observer at the numerous meet-the-people sessions, preferring to leave it to deputy Chief Minister Tab Sri Alfred Jabu, who was constantly with him, to speak his mind on why the Ibans, who are the majority voters here (98 per cent) and in Sarawak, should keep the faith and confidence with the BN.Salang said changing the state government was a PKR mission impossible in view that the BN held 63 of the 71 seats in the state with DAP holding six and PKR and an independent, one each.Even if PKR won Batang Ai, the BN would still have 62 seats, he said, adding: "PKR should concentrate on the next state election, about two years away, where and when the stakes are even higher."To PKR, although it may be just a by-election, winning Batang Ai is just as crucial as it is the first assault in its battle to sign up the Ibans, and eventually the other Dayak communities, in its national political agenda.So, with accommodation becoming a big problem now, from Sri Aman town 83km away to Betong town as the nomination day approaches, those men in blue are resorting to camping out while the civil servants pack their offices to the brim or are renting any available places.
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