While rumours are rife that another Taib will contest for the Kota Samarahan parliamentary seat, word within the party is that the candidate will be a local woman.
KUCHING: Sarawak Barisan Nasional leader party Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB) is likely to field a woman candidate to replace its incumbent Sulaiman Mahmud in ‘family-held’ Kota Samarahan parliamentary constituency.Sulaiman is Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s younger son, and went AWOL following his mother’s passing away in 2009.
Sulaiman, who had been earmarked to succeed Taib, was elected in 2008. He was promptly pushed up to the federal-level and was appointed deputy tourism minister.
However for reasons best known to him and the Taib dynasty, he quit the post and disappeared abroad in 2010.
Sulaiman, who seems to have made amends with his father, has apparently informed the party that he would not defend his seat and talk is hotting-up that his older brother Mahmud Bekir, a corporate bigwig would take over the safe seat.
Billionaire Bekir is the deputy chairman of family-held Cahaya Mata Sarawak (CMS) and was tipped to contest in the last April state elections and ‘rescue’ his embattled father.
However his divorce from his wife of 19 years, among other things, got in the way last year and the candidacy was put on hold.
But Bekir’s sudden expressed interest last year after repeatedly saying ‘no’ to politics had further upped talks that he would be quickly groomed to step into his father Taib’s shoes.
Taib, who has been Chief Minister of Sarawak since 1981, is under tremendous pressure from the Najib administration to step down.
That the Kota Samarahan constituency wants the Taibs to continue was visible a few days ago when a groups of PBB supporters bearing banners and placards called for Mahmud Bekir to be fielded as its candidate.
Although a political greenhorn, Mahmud Bekir had alluded that he has always been in the fringe of politics having been a member of the PBB Kuching branch since he was 19-years-old.
But Taib’s response to newsmen here yesterday and PBB supreme council member Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah’s comment seem to allude to the possibility that it may not be Mahmud Bekir and that a ‘local’ woman would be picked.
‘It could be Rubiah Wang’
Taib told newsmen here yesterday that he was in the midst of running through the candidates’ list and that his party, PBB, would be increasing the number of its women candidates in the 13th general election.
““Yes, there will be new candidates. On the number (of women), I will decide before it is finalised by the prime minister,” he said adding that the complete list of candidates will be ready in time for when Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak wants it.
PBB currently has three women MPs. They are Rohani Abdul Karim (Batang Lupar), Nancy Shukri (Batang Sadong) and Norah Abdul Rahman (Tanjung Manis).
While Norah is a much favoured and close relative of Taib, Rohani is currently the federal Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism.
Meanwhile rumours are rife that the woman candidate for Kota Samarahan is is Asajaya district officer Rubiah Wang, a native of Kota Samarahan constituency.
Karim, who is Asajaya assemblyman, said three names had been submitted to Taib for the Kota Samarahan seat and one of those names was a woman.
But he declined to reveal names of the potential candidates except to say : “For Kota Samarahan parliamentary seat, three names including one woman, has been shortlisted.
“I think a local will be picked…that is what I think. ”
Sarawak has 31 parliamentary seats and PBB holds 14. The rest are shared between BN components; Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) and Sarawak United Peoples Party (SUPP).
Currently BN holds 29 seats. DAP has two – Bandar Kuching and Bandar Sibu. It won Bandar Sibu is a tightly fought by-election in 2010.
Earlier this week, BN secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor had reportedly said that the component parties had been given “two weeks” to submit their list of winnable candidates to the prime minister.
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