Sibu by-election, 2010
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Sibu parliamentary seat |
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Robert Lau Hoi Chew
Barisan Nasional
The Sibu by-election, 2010 was a by-election for the seat of Sibu in the Parliament of Malaysia. The Sarawak-based seat fell vacant after the death of its incumbent member, Robert Lau Hoi Chew, from liver cancer on 9 April 2010. The seat was defended for the Barisan Nasional coalition government by Robert Lau Hui Yew of the Sarawak United Peoples' Party (SUPP), while Sarawak State Assemblyman Wong Ho Leng contested the poll for the Democratic Action Party (DAP) in the Pakatan Rakyat opposition coalition. Wong won the election by 398 votes, wresting the seat from the Barisan Nasional.
At the time of the election there were 54,695 registered voters, a majority of whom were ethnic Chinese. In the previous general election in 2008, the incumbent, Hoi Chew retained the seat with a 3,235-vote majority against Wong Ho Leng, and Lim Chin Chuang of the People's Justice Party. The Sibu seat had been last won by the DAP in 1982, but had since been won continuously by the SUPP.
In this election, known as the "Battle of the Mighty Rejang", the government and opposition went head-to-head on a number of local issues concerning Sarawak, including poverty, education and development.
The Sibu constituency has been dominated by the contest between the SUPP and the DAP for approximately three decades. The DAP won the seat in the 1982 general election when Ling Sie Ming defeated Wong Soon Kai by 141 votes, causing Sibu to become the first DAP-held parliamentary seat in Sarawak. The DAP lost the seat in the 1986 election to the Barisan Nasional, and in the 1990 election won the seat through Robert Lau Hoi Chew. Lau held the seat until his death from liver cancer on 9 April 2010. His winning margin in the 2008 election had been 3,235 votes.
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