Naib Presiden UMNO Zahid Hamidi sokong saya sebagai calon Mas Gading - Tiki Lafe

Dr Tiki counts on support from Zahid

Posted on August 2, 2012, Thursday

UNITY IS STRENGTH: Dr Tiki officiates at the opening of Kampung Raso 1 Sepak Takraw court in Bau recently.

BAU: A special aide to Mas Gading MP Datuk Dr Tiki Lafe revealed that Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi will attend the ‘Mas Gading Hari Raya open house’ on a date to be decided later.

The aide, Lolin Nyigo, said the impending visit is proof of the federal minister’s support for his fellow parliamentarian.

He quoted the minister as saying in a Bernama report when announcing the re-appointment of Dr Tiki as chairman of the National Service Training Council at a function in Sibu in January that Dr Tiki was a winnable candidate and “a talented leader who should not be sidelined”.

Lolin rated Dr Tiki as having a 98 per cent chance of being nominated to defend the Mas Gading seat in the coming general election.

“Our assessment is based on intelligence reports collected on the ground and of course the two per cent will be from the top BN leaders,” he said in jest to The Borneo Post on Tuesday.

On the other hand, Dr Tiki himself believes that being the outright candidate he would emerge victorious for BN, attributing his confidence to the solid support of community leaders in the constituency and cooperation from Mambong MP and Bengoh assemblyman, whose constituencies border his.

“From the temenggong down to the village headman, they have pledged their undivided support and cooperation to me to win the election for BN. My optimism to win is based on reports by intelligence on voting trend carried on the ground and the reports show that I will have 100 per cent support from the Bidayuh Jagoi-Selakau and 50 per cent may come from the Bidayuh Singgai,” Dr Tiki said confidently.

He based his evaluation on the trend in previous elections, whereby the incumbent, opposition or independent candidate would each get 30 per cent of the total votes cast with the winner getting 10 per cent at the most from fence sitters.

Dr Tiki’s analysis was supported by Rosadi Ugit, a keen observer of the elections in Mas Gading.

“I have been watching the voting trend in this parliamentary constituency for the last ten years and my predictions for each candidate had always been near perfect,” Rosadi said.

Mas Gading has a total of 24,000 registered voters — 18,000 Bidayuhs, 4,000 Chinese, 1,000 (Malays) and 1,000 (Ibans and others).

When asked on his relationship with SPDP president Tan Sri William Mawan Ikom, he said their ties were as cordial as before.

“Mawan and I are still good friends and I only disagree with him on how he handles some party policies,” he explained.