Headache for Najib; PRS rejects cabinet posts

SARATOK: William Mawan Ikom, the Barisan Nasional candidate for the Saratok parliamentary seat, today pledged to donate his entire parliamentary allowance for the benefit of the
constituents if BN retains the seat come polling day on May 5 in the 13th general election.

“A special entity will be set up to manage it (the allowance) for their benefit. This will be among my contributions (to the people),” he said when speaking at a meet-the-people session, where Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was present, at Dataran Krian at the Saratok waterfront, here.

Mawan, who is Sarawak social development minister and president of the BN component Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP), said his main agenda was to bring a new era of development and progress to Saratok, a rural town in the Betong Division.

He said he realised that he was facing a big challenge in retaining the seat, “but I am confident that with the committed support of the people and all BN component parties, we shall triumph.

“This a struggle for all the people. And, if the BN wins, it is a win for all of them too,” he said.

Mawan said that during his campaign visits to some of the more than 400 longhouses and villages in the constituency, he realised that there was still a lot to be done to improve the socio-economic status of the people.

If Saratok remained with the BN, the people’s problems and expectations could easily and effectively be conveyed to the federal government for solutions.

Mawan advised the people to put aside the issue of him being perceived as an outsider.

“This is a petty issue compared to the large and more important picture of the people’s greater well-being, progress and development, which can only be well looked after by the BN,” he said.

Saratok was won by the BN in the 2008 general election through Jelaing Mersat, but the federal deputy transport minister was not fielded as a candidate in this election.

- Bernama