KAPIT: It is tough going for the DAP in the new Bukit Goram seat here.
Its candidate Larry anak Asap and his campaigners are being shown the door in a number of places.
A Kapit District councillor George anak Tang when contacted confirmed that 'no entry' banners directed at Larry and DAP had been spotted at accesses to longhouses and settlements here.
"So far Larry has not been visiting many of the 115 longhouses here, limiting his ceramah to mainly the town folk," he said.
Basically, he said, the people feared that DAP's style of politics could affect their existing unity, harmony and strong ties with the government.
"Even DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang did not receive an enthusiastic response to his ceramah at the market here this morning despite his national stature," he said.
"In contrast, for BN candidate Jefferson Jamit ak Unyat it is repeat visits as he has been on the ground for many years before this. The BN machinery is very strong too," he said.
The Bukit Goram seat which has 11,510 mostly Iban voters was created out of the Pelagus constituency following the electoral redelineation last year and is part of the Kapit parliamentary constituency.
"The voters are allergic to the opposition as they want more development which only the BN can deliver," said George.
Meanwhile, Malay community leader Penghulu Hamzah Bolhassan said the people are very receptive to the soft spoken Jamit as they see him as someone who can complement Kapit MP and Rural and Regional Development Deputy Minister Datuk Alexander Nanta Linggi's efforts in bringing more development and progress.
He said Larry and Jefferson Jamit are actually cousins from the same Nanga Merirai longhouse in Baleh.
"Their grandfather was the late Tun Jugah ak Barieng, a very prominent Sarawak Iban paramount chief and Minister of Sarawak Affairs in the late Prime Minister Tuanku Abdul Rahman's administration," he said. --Bernama