The ruling Barisan Nasional coalition has won another parliamentary seat unopposed today when the independent candidate for Igan in central Sarawak withdrew from the race.

This resulted in PBB's candidate Wahab Dolah, a former state assistant minister, being declared the winner, giving BN a total tally of 10 parliamentary seats won without contest.

James Chas, the returning officer of Igan parliamentary constituency, confirmed that Independent candidate Junak Jawit had filed his notice of withdrawal at 12.25pm to allow Dolah, the incumbent, to be named the winner.

Under the election laws, a candidate can withdraw from the race within three days of filing his nomination with the returning officer. Nomination was held on Sunday and the three-day deadline is to expire tomorrow.

BN has on nomination day won four Sarawak parliamentary seats unopposed - Kapit, Selangau, Kanowit and Tanjung Manis.

Dolah, when contacted by Malaysiakini , said he was 'surprised' on hearing at noon that his sole opponent had pulled out from the race and thanked him for that.

He was in Igan when the official announcement was made and was meeting his supporters in the town.

214 parliament seats up for grabs

With Igan going to BN, the ruling coalition has so far 10 seats - eight parliament and two state seats - in the bag.

With this latest development, there are now 214 parliamentary and 502 state seats up for grabs on polling day on March 8.

Meanwhile, the opposition has picked up one seat through PAS' woman candidate Wan Ubaidah Omar who secured the Kijang state seat in Kelantan when the Umno candidate Mustopha Ahmed was disqualified for having been declared a bankrupt.

This is a crucial bonus for PAS as it controlled 23 seats to BN's 22 in Kelantan before the dissolution of the state assembly, thus making every seat counts in the battle for the state.

In the 2004 general elections, BN won 17 parliament and 11 state seats unopposed while PAS took one state seat in Johor.