Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam, who is Sarawak United Peoples' Party (SUPP) president, said he will do his best to retain the Piasau seat here.
"Miri is my hometown. I will defend it until I die. And if I die, I will rise from my grave to haunt anyone who disturbs the harmony of Miri," Dr Chan told the New Straits Times.
Dr Chan, who is also deputy chief minister, said the voters in Piasau were united and had been experiencing rapid progress.
"I do not mind people calling Miri a 'Georgetown' because George wants it to progress, to be in the forefront and to be a good example of a multiracial society.
"If the passion I have for Miri is a measure of my confidence, then I am very confident of winning again in Piasau," he said.
Chinese community leader Kapitan Yong Vui Seng said retaining the Piasau seat was crucial for SUPP as this would determine the future of the party's leadership.
He said a victory for Barisan Nasional and Dr Chan in Piasau would strengthen SUPP and ensure the party's longevity, especially after it lost eight seats in the 2006 state election -- six to DAP and one each to Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and the Sarawak National Party.
"If SUPP and BN fail to retain Piasau, it would be a great loss to the community here as we will not continue to enjoy rapid development as we experience now.
"In the end, it is the people here who would be at a disadvantage," he said when met near here.
Yong said the Chinese voters in Miri, especially Piasau, should look back at what happened when people in Sibu and Kuching voted for opposition in the 2006 state election.
"If SUPP is defeated in Piasau, it would mean that the Chinese community will lose one of its senior representatives in the state government. This is a political reality."
Two of Dr Chan's predecessors had lost in previous state elections.
The second SUPP president, Tan Sri Stephen Yong, failed to defend the Kuching parliamentary seat in 1990, while his successor, Tan Sri Dr Wong Soon Kai, suffered the same fate in Bukit Assek in the 1996 state election.
Dr Chan, the fourth party president, made his first political appearance in 1982 when he contested the Lambir parliamentary seat and won a five-cornered fight with 17,898 votes, after 17 years of being a medical doctor.
A year later in 1983, he contested the state seat of Miri and won uncontested. In 1987, he retained Miri with a majority of 8,273 votes, 64.76 per cent of the total votes.
In the 1991 state election, Dr Chan contested the renamed constituency of Piasau, where he won with a 9,063 vote-majority. He defended Piasau in 1996 and won with a 5,191 vote-majority. He then took over the party presidency from Wong.
In the 2001 state election, Dr Chan received a 7,673 vote-majority, 79.4 per cent of the total votes.
However, Dr Chan's majority dropped in the 2006 state election to 3,918, where he garnered 6,573 votes compared with PKR Miri chief Michael Teo's 2,655 votes.
According to the electoral roll as of March 26 this year, there are 16,600 registered voters in Piasau -- 64 per cent are Chinese, Malay/Melanau (20 per cent), Iban (14 per cent) and others (two per cent).
Miri is seen as the stronghold of SUPP, after the party defended all its three Chinese-majority seats -- Piasau, Pujut and Senadin -- in the 2006 state election. This was in contrast to Kuching, where SUPP lost four out of its five predominantly-Chinese seats.
DAP has named Ling Sie Kiong, a 29-year-old pharmacist for Piasau, as its candidate.
The full list of candidates will be known at the end of tomorrow's nomination process.
