Friday, October 22, 2010

PKR to contest in Batu Sapi

PKR to contest in Batu Sapi .
Tue, 19 Oct 2010 11:09 . .By Rahmah Ghazali

FULL REPORT KUALA LUMPUR: Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim today announced that PKR will contest in Batu Sapi, Sabah, after achieving a consensus with Pakatan Rakyat top leadership.

Anwar, who is also the PKR de facto leader, said that the decision was made as the seat was originally allocated to PKR during the last general election. But the party opted out as it could not field a candidate.

"Pakatan in Sabah has met and decided that PKR candidate will represent us in the by-election," he said.

Asked about another opposition Sabah-based party Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) which has also expressed interest to join the fray, Anwar said that he preferred a "straight fight" with Barisan Nasional (BN).

"I hope they (SAPP) will not contest because we would like a straight fight with BN," he said.

Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has announced that Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) will represent BN in the by-election.

PKR candidate to be known soon

Anwar, who is also the Permatang Pauh MP, said that the party will announce its candidate "soon".

While PKR is still in the midst of its selection process, BN is almost set to name PBS vice-president Thien Yui Fun as its choice.

Thien, a former Sungai Sibuga assemblyman, and several back-up candidates have been picked by PBS, pending a greenlight from Chief Minister and state BN chairman Musa Aman.

BN is scheduled to officially name its candidate this Sunday.

The seat, comprising 24,047 ordinary voters and 1,535 postal voters, fell vacant following the death of incumbent Edmund Chong Ket Wah in a road accident on Oct 9.

The Election Commission has fixed the by-election on Nov 4, with nomination taking place on Oct 26. The Batu Sapi by-election will be held simultaneously with the Galas state seat by-election in Kelantan.

Also read:

Party-less Sabah DCM shocks coalition leaders at meeting



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Thursday, October 21, 2010

Rundingan PKR-SAPP gagal, pertandingan 3 penjuru?




Rundingan PKR-SAPP gagal, pertandingan 3 penjuru?
Okt 21, 10 6:25pm


Pilihan raya kecil Batu Sapi dijangka menyaksikan pertandingan tiga penjuru antara BN, PKR dan SAPP apabila usaha mencari jalan penyelesaian antara kedua-dua parti pembangkang itu menemui jalan buntu.

Di sebalik usaha supaya kerusi Batu Sapi ditandingi satu lawan satu, kedua-dua PKR dan SAPP berdegil mahukan calon masing-masing diketengahkan.


Bagaimanapun, kedua-dua pihak bersetuju untuk tidak berkempen menentang satu sama lain dan menjadikan BN sebagai sasaran bersama dengan harapan pilihan raya kecil itu boleh dijadikan "sumber rujukan" oleh mereka apabila mengadakan rundingan pada masa akan datang.

SAPP akan mengumumkan calonnya Sabtu ini, manakala Leong sekadar berkata PKR akan mengumumkan calonnya "sedikit masa lagi".

BN akan mengumumkan calonnya daripada Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) Ahad ini.

Mesyuarat peringkat tertinggi lebih sejam hari ini diadakan oleh kedua-dua parti itu dengan bendahari PKR mewakili Pakatan Rakyat manakala SAPP pula diketuai oleh presidennya, Datuk Yong Teck Lee.

Bercakap kepada wartawan pada sidang media selepas mesyuarat itu, kedua-dua pemimpin berkenaan mengakui tiada kata sepakat yang dicapai mengenai Batu Sapi.


Namun, mereka tidak menolak kemungkinan kerjasama pada pilihan raya umum akan datang.

Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya telah menetapkan penamaan calon pada Selasa ini manakala pengundian adalah pada 4 November ini.

Kerusi Batu Sapi kosong, berikutan kematian ahli parlimennya, Edmund Chong Ket Wah dari Parti Bersatu Sabah yang terbunuh dalam kemalangan jalan raya di Kota Kinabalu, minggu lalu.

Mendiang menduduki kerusi berkenaan sejak pilihan raya umum 2004 apabila memenanginya tanpa sebarang saingan.

Bagaimanapun pada pilihan raya 2008, beliau dicabar oleh calon Bebas, Chung Kwong Wing tetapi berjaya mengekalkan kerusinya dengan mudah dengan majoriti 3,708 undi.

Chong memperoleh 9,479 undi manakala Chung pula mendapat 5,771.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Batu Sapi by-election on Nov 4

Batu Sapi by-election on Nov 4

UPDATED @ 02:13:44 PM 15-10-2010By Asrul Hadi Abdullah SaniOctober 15, 2010
PUTRAJAYA, Oct 15 — Sabah’s Batu Sapi parliamentary by-election is set for November 4, on the same day as Kelantan’s Galas vote.

They’ll also share nomination day — October 26.

The date of the 13th by-election since Election 2008 was announced by Chairman of the Election Commission (EC) Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof today.

Abdul Aziz explained that the decision saves time and money.

“The two by-elections are held simultaneously because the law allows it. We also have had experience in holding three different by-elections at the same time, Bukit Gantang, Bukit Selembau and Batang Ai.

“We also discussed at large that if we held the two by-elections together then the period will be shortened so it will save time, costs and lessen the tension. I also feel that the dates mentioned are sufficient for all parties to prepare for the election,” he told reporters here.

The EC will set up 12 polling stations — all schools except for a library — broken down further to 45 polling streams.

“The electoral roll has 25,582 registered voters which comprises 24,047 ordinary voters and 1,535 postal voters,” Abdul Aziz said of the updated roll as of October 9 2010.

The EC has also appointed a returning officer and four assistant officers to run the by-election.

“The EC appoints Muhamad Hamsan Awang Supain as the returning officer. He is the secretary of Sandakan Muncipal council,” he said.

The two by-elections are expected to cost RM2.6 million — equally shared.

Abdul Aziz is convinced of a high turnout for the polls — above 80 per cent — despite being on a Thursday.

The Batu Sapi by-election was triggered by the death of two-term lawmaker Datuk Edmund Chong Ket Wah in an accident in Kota Kinabalu last week.

Chong, 54, was riding a Kawasaki 750 bike along the Sembulan-Tanjung Aru road when he was involved in a crash with an oncoming Mercedez Benz car at about 11.40am.

Batu Sapi is a new seat that was created following a re-delineation exercise and was first contested in 2004.

It is also divided into two state seats, Sekong and Karamunting.

The racial breakdown of Sekong voters is as follows: 2,366 Chinese (21 per cent), 6,031 Sabah bumiputeras (53 per cent), 2,167 Malay (19 per cent), 676 others (6 per cent), 41 Sarawak bumiputeras (0.36 per cent), 37 Indian (0.33 per cent) and three Orang Asli (0.03 per cent).

In Karamunting, the breakdown is the following: 9,546 Chinese (37 per cent, 9,565 Sabah bumiputeras (37 per cent, 5,000 Malays (20 per cent), 1,213 Others (5 per cent), 92 Indians (0.36 per cent), 158 Sarawak bumiputeras (0.62 per cent) and eight Orang Asli (0.03 per cent).

Chong, from Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), won the seat uncontested in that year and successfully saw off independent challenger Chung Kwong Win by a margin of 3,708 votes in Election 2008.

P185 BATU SAPI