KOTA KINABALU: Karambunai assemblywoman, Datuk Hajah Jainab Datuk Seri Panglima Ahmad Ayid, says she hopes the Sepanggar parliamentary seat will be allocated to Umno in the coming 13th general election.
Jainab, who is also Assistant Minister of Resource Development and Information Technology, said the party with the strongest and largest machinery should be given the opportunity to offer its candidate, adding that there may be some impact if the candidate was not selected in that manner.
“The strongest machinery now is Umno Sepanggar because we have 18,000 members, of which 13,000 are voters in Sepanggar,” she remarked confidently.
Furthermore, said Jainab, there are 3,000 voters from the People’s Volunteer Corps (Rela), over 2,000 voters from among the Tekun entrepreneurs, 2,000 voters from the Royal Malaysian Navy, who have benefitted from 1Azam and 1Malaysia People’s Aid.
“In Sepanggar, we have 53 percent Muslim voters, around 20 percent Kadazan or bumiputra voters, around 20 percent Chinese voters and about five percent of other races,’ she disclosed in an interview after officiating at the Malaysian Conference on Information System (MCIS) 2013 organized by the Labuan School of Informatics Science, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) here yesterday.
Jainab attended the event on behalf of Deputy Chief Minister cum Minister of Resource Development and Information Technology, Datuk Dr. Yee Moh Chai.
Jainab is confident that with the provision of the 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M) and various other assistance given, the BN would be able capture Sepanggar constituency provided all BN component parties were united.
In addition, Jainab said, BN also wanted to defend the Inanam state seat and would assist the present Inanam assemblyman Datuk Johnny Goh in doing so.
“I hope the Sepanggar seat would be allocated to Umno because we have th strongest machinery and we promise to help defend the Inanam state seat,” she said, adding that the final decision on the Sepanggar seat would be left to the Prime Minister.
“If we unite, and if the Prime Minister makes the right choice, I am confident Sepanggar and all seats in Sabah will be the pillar of strength of the BN in Malaysia, as spoken by the Prime Minister.
“We have lost power, Sabah has lost power. Not once, but many times. But we have learnt from experience,” she said, adding that the BN coalition had worked together to develop the country and make necessary transformation.
“All of us hope BN will win all the seats in the whole of Sabah, parliamentary and state,” she said hopefully.