KOTA KINABALU: Increase in the number of Sabah parliamentary candidates in the coming general elections (GE15), as compared to the previous one, is an encouraging sign for Sabah’s democracy, said Tan Sri T.C Goh, President of The Federation of Chinese Associations Sabah (FCAS).
He also hoped that once the election is over, the new federal government would pay greater attention to Sabah’s rights and its development in various sectors.
He noted that, on the nomination day held yesterday, a total of 125 candidates have successfully filed their nominations, to contest for the 26 parliamentary seats in Sabah and Labuan Federal Territory. Out of this, 119 candidates are contesting for the 25 parliamentary seats in Sabah, and six candidates are for the Labuan parliamentary seat. The said number (of 125 parliamentary candidates) was an increase of 24 parliamentary candidates, as compared to 101 parliamentary candidates in the 14th general elections held in 2018, where 97 candidates contested for the 25 parliamentary seats in Sabah, and four candidates contested for the sole parliamentary seat in Labuan.
While noting that an increase in the number of parliamentary candidates, independent candidates included, in the GE15, may inevitably split the votes, Goh nonetheless believed that the voters’ main focus would be on those political parties and candidates who are really capable of serving them.
“This is how democracy works, i.e allowing the people to vote in an election to elect a new government to govern the country,” he said this in a statement issued today.
Goh, who is also President of The Federation of Sabah and Labuan Hokkien Associations (FSLHA) was commenting on the outcome of the nationwide nomination day, which also covered Sabah and Sarawak.
He also reiterated that the two Bornean states would continue to play a significant role, as the ‘King makers’, in the coming GE15, where the polling day has been fixed on 19 November.
He explained that this was based on the fact that, out of the 222 parliamentary seats, Sarawak constitutes 31 parliamentary seats, and Sabah makes up 57 parliamentary seats, including Labuan, hence together the two states have more than a quarter of the total parliamentary seats. Therefore, political camps which wished to form the federal government must strive to win the allegiance and support of political parties from Sabah and Sarawak.
He thus urged the voters of Sabah to exercise their voting rights wisely to better safeguard and champion the rights and interests of Sabah.
Besides this, Goh also hoped that whoever gets to form the new federal government, after the general elections, would strive to restore Sabah’s autonomy and boost its overall development.-pr/BNN
