PBB to introduce new faces in race for 40-plus seats in Sarawak polls

Sarawak Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) will contest 47 seats of the 82 up for grabs at the state election to come, fielding new faces in 20% of the constituencies it takes on, likely in semi-urban areas.

PBB vice-president Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said it was important for young candidates to be given a chance to contest.

“There will be quite a number who are in their 30s,” he told reporters when asked about the party’s line-up of new faces after a Supreme Council meeting last night.

He added that there would “definitely” be some from the youth and women’s wings.

“It will always be like that.”

Karim said any move to replace the incumbents would not be a reflection on their service in the constituency.

“But I think the circumstances require them to be replaced with new candidates for the sake of the party and the state,” he said.

He declined to go into detail on the matter of women being fielded as new candidates.

“As much as possible, the party will make sure the number of women representing PBB will not decrease,” he said.

While the number of women candidates increased from 15 in 2011 to 22 in the 2016 state election, he said, the proportion of women in the Sarawak legislative assembly is still low.

“But it is not easy to get new candidates because women are normally housewives. It is quite difficult for them, but we can always groom them,” he added.

“There are bound to be some who wish to serve society. These are the ones that we want to look for, those who want to give back to society as politicians.”

Women currently holding seats in the state assembly include PBB’s Fatimah Abdullah (Dalat), Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali (Samariang), Rosey Yunus (Bekenua), Jamilah Anu (Tanjung Datu), Simoi Peri (Lingga) from the ruling GPS coalition, as well as Irene Mary Chang (Bukit Assek) and Violet Yong (Pending) from DAP.