KUCHING: Kedup assemblyman Martin Ben expressed confidence that his constituents will help Serian incumbent Datuk Seri Richard Riot win the seat in the 15th General Election (GE15).
Kedup, Bukit Semuja and Tebedu are the three state seats under Serian and consist of 19,128 voters, 25,000 voters and 20,000 voters respectively.
“I can say that in Kedup, we can win 100 percent. However, we won’t know the majority,” he said when asked about the current mood of the voters in the area.
He added that the party machineries are doing their level best and have been camping at the ‘markas’ (operation centre).
“But, so far so good. In the second week of election, we will improve our campaigning methods from one village to another and will follow through the schedules of the markas so that the teams will move systematically,” he said.
He also pointed out that Kedup election machinery has been activated since the last state election.
Martin, who is also the Deputy Minister of Food Industry, Commodity and Regional Development disclosed that all Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) elected representatives have been instructed by president cum Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg to campaign for all Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) candidates to ensure their victory come the election day on November 19.
“Even though the three of us (assemblymen) under the Serian parliamentary seat are from PBB, I think that is immaterial. We look at GPS.
“That has been the directive of our president, who is also chairman of GPS. That we must win (all the 31 seats in this general election). We must contribute to the 31 parliamentary seats (that GPS is targeting).
“That’s why we can guarantee that the Serian parliamentary seat will be one of them,” he asserted.
Bukit Semuja assemblyman John Ilus also said his machinery has been activated to ensure Riot’s victory.
“We have also organized our teams to reach out to the Undi18,” said John.
Meanwhile, Tebedu assemblyman Dr Simon Sinang Bada also said his party machinery has been activated to assist during the campaign period.
“In this GE15, we are one team, regardless of our political parties,” said Dr Sinang.
Riot,who is Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) deputy president, said he would continue to work hard until the last vote is counted, adding that his campaign machinery has been working smoothly.
“Even though we have been working very hard and have been working very closely among the component parties and the three assemblymen helping in this campaign, we will continue to work hard, especially in order to reach out to the Undi 18,” added Riot.
He is engaged in a four-cornered fight with Dr Alim Impira, an Independent candidate, Elsiy Tingang of Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) and Learry Jabul of Democratic Action Party (DAP).
In the last general election, he won the seat under the Barisan Nasional (BN) ticket with a majority of 9,905 votes against Edward Andrew Luak (DAP) and Senior Wiliam Rade (Independent).
