DAP fielding five new faces
Published on: Sunday, April 15, 2018
Kota Kinabalu: Sabah DAP is fielding five new faces in the coming 14th General Election (GE14).They are Wanita Chief Jannie Lasimbang, Tenom Coordinator Noorita Sual, Keningau Chairman Peter Saili, Publicity Secretary Phoong Jin Zhe and Putatan Coordinator Tan Lee Fatt.The party's line-up for the GE14 in the State will also see some minor changes, including for the Kota Kinabalu parliamentary seat, which was previously contested by Advisor Jimmy Wong. Jimmy will be moving to the Sri Tanjong state seat and replaced by Secretary Chan Foong Hin.ADVERTISEMENT Jannie, known as an indigenous people's rights activist and a Suhakam commissioner once, will be defending the Kepayan state seat which was previously won by former DAP member Dr Edwin Bosi, who is now in a Sabah-based opposition party, Parti Anak Sabah.Saile, who was with Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) in 1985, is now a fulltime businessman. He will be contesting in Bingkor.Saili joined the party after his "vacation" from political stage when he was invited by DAP Parliamentary Leader Lim Kit Siang in 2014 to introduce the party to the interior.ADVERTISEMENT One of the new faces, Phoong, will try to reclaim the Luyang state seat which was won by former member Hiew King Cheu with a majority of 8,676 votes in 2013 but has left the opposition party to join the ruling government.The 29-year-old full-time politician said he would attempt to take back the lost seat of Luyang and regain the people's trust.
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For the Likas state seat won previously by former member Wong Hong Jun @ Junz Wong, who is now in another Sabah-based opposition party, Parti Warisan Sabah, with a 5652-vote majority, Tan will attempt to regain the seat.He was a man of different professions before he became special assistant to fellow member, Jimmy Wong, since 2010."We do not really have a problem in defending the Likas seat but of course we still need to work hard for it and hopefully, we can get a bigger majority and, of course, to form the next state and federal government," he said.Commenting on the swapping of seats, Chan said as one of the drafters for the "new Sabah deal" under the Pakatan Harapan manifesto, it is to ensure the party would follow the proper procedure to deliver what is necessary."I am from Tawau but the Tawau Parliament seat does not belong to DAP. So for the parties to make consideration and if I need to go to Parliament, I will have to go through the correct channel and that is why we came up with the idea of me contesting in Kota Kinabalu," he said.Sabah DAP will be contesting in three parliamentary seats and seven state seats for the GE14 compared to the previous election where the party contested in two parliamentary seats and eight state seats.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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DAP Chairman Tan Kok Wai made the announcement in the presence of most of DAP Sabah leaders at Luyang, here, Saturday.DAP Sabah Chairman Stephen Wong will defend the Sandakan parliamentary seat that he won in GE13 where he polled 13,138 and won with a 1,088-vote majority, defeating former Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) President Datuk VK Liew. - Jeremy S Zabala