LIMBANG, SARAWAK, 28 April (SNN) — 5.000 members of Barisan Nasional sent
Haji Hasbi Habibollah, its candidate in the 14th General Election (GE), to the nomination centre at the Dewan Suarah, Limbang this morning. In contrast only about 20 members of the opposition, PKR, came to cheer its candidate, Dr. Ricardo Yampil Baba.
Hasbi, 55, is the incumbent who was first won in 2008 with a narrow win in the new constituency. However, in the 13th GE in 2013, this engineer trounced the seasoned politician, Baru Bian of PKR, by 12,999 to 4,698 votes. Now Hasbi has become a seasoned parliamentarian himself and he will easily defeat his opponent in this 14th GE in 2018.
PKR has chosen a greenhorn to challenge the BN candidate in the person of Dr. Ricardo Yampil Baba, 61, (PhD). If the number who turned up in support of him during the nomination day then Ricardo will face a very daunting task to get votes in just a short 11 days of campaigning.
A taxi driver who hailed from a nearby village that of Ricardo has high praises of Hasbi and will get his vote. He said Ricardo, although a local boy, is not a familiar face or name in Limbang. In pursuit of his career in the academic world, Ricardo most of the time was out of Limbang either furthering his studies in finance overseas or teaching in various universities in the country.
