Malaysian Insider
SIBU, March 8 — Young voters will be the target of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), which plans to contest the Batang Ai by-election, and the Barisan Nasional (BN), which is defending the state seat.
They make up almost 60 per cent of the 8,006 predominantly Iban voters in the constituency. “We will try to woo those voters 40 years old and below,” said PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin at a news conference here.
He had earlier closed a preparatory course for about 100 party members who would be the campaign personnel and other workers in the by-election.
“We are confident of winning as we have done our studies on the ground,” he said.
Shamsul Iskandar said PKR advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim would probably be in Batang Ai to help in the campaign. “Of course, other leaders will help. We will start our campaign now although we have yet to name our candidate.”
On Friday, Sarawak BN Youth leader Fadillah Yusof, who is also Deputy Science, Technology and Innovation Minister, had said in Kuching the BN would target the young voters, especially those below 45 years of age.
He said the youth wing would go all-out to ensure that the BN retained the seat whose candidate would be from Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS).
“We from PBB (Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu), SUPP (Sarawak United People’s Party) PRS and SPDP (Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party) will work as a team,” he said.
The Batang Ai seat fell vacant following the death of its four-term assemblyman Datuk Dublin Unting Ingkot on Feb 24. Unting was also the former assistant minister of agriculture and a PRS vice-president. — Bernama