KOTA KINABALU: The People’s Welfare Party (Kita) would field candidates in all state and parliamentary seats in Sabah and Labuan in the coming general election (GE), said its Sabah Branch chairman Datuk Pengiran Othman Rauf.
He said while the party continued with its efforts to expand its influence in the State, preparations for the elections had been initiated, including short-listing the qualified candidates for contesting in every constituencies.
“For me, we only need to provide the right candidates, the rest is up to the voters to decide,” he said during a dialogue with the party’s national leader Datuk Mohd Zaid Ibrahim here on Tuesday.
Othman revealed that coordinating bodies were being set up to manage the election machinery at all levels in every parliamentary and state constituencies, districts and voting zones.
“Election issues are being prepared; covering national, state and local issues that will be compiled into our manifesto. I will not go into details now but among the issues that people talked about today are the increasing price of food products, the value of the ringgit that has fallen drastically since independence, and illegal immigrants.
“I observe that the government has failed to address these issues, and it is issues like these that will be the main agenda of our struggle here in Sabah,” he added.
Kita, said Othman is a stand-alone party that has no allegiance with any other existing parties, making it an interesting alternative for the people in Sabah seeking a new platform to change the state’s current political dynamic.
He said the party would highly appeal to Sabahans as it emphasised on giving freedom to the local leaders in developing the State based on what they believe best suited the needs and aspirations of the local people.
“If we Sabahans can do our best to take care of the affairs of Sabah, and Pahang people can take care of Pahang, for example … this means there is concentration, a focus in development, and that is better for the people.
“However we will still be bound by the party’s constitution, and Datuk Zaid will oversee everything,” he said in a press conference after the dialogue.
Zaid meanwhile said Kita would first focus on the main issues in Sabah, namely land issues and illegal immigrants while the State leadership mapped out more specific agendas that needed attention.